Republicans propose amendment to limit US Supreme Court to 9 justices

A Republican senator is planning to introduce a constitutional amendment to "limit the number of US Supreme Court justices to nine" after several Democrats professed the idea of expanding the bench.

READ: Republican Senators Supporting Border Emergency 'uniformly Praised': Donald Trump

The first-term congressman from US' Tennessee's 7th District, Mark Green on Tuesday tweeted, "This Thursday, I will be introducing a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of Supreme Court justices to 9 -- the number of seats since 1869. The Supreme Court must remain a fair and impartial branch of government not beholden to party."

As 2020 Presidential elections are drawing closer, several Democrats including former US Attorney General Eric Holder and Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg have expressed concern as country's highest court is becoming a "nakedly political institution." 

READ: Donald Trump Issues First Veto On Bill To End His Emergency Declaration On Border Wall

"This central objective that is to prevent the Supreme Court from continuing on this trajectory to become basically ruined by being a nakedly political institution," The Hill quoted Buttigieg as saying.

Last year, the US President Donald Trump faced flak over his decision to appoint then US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court Justice. His appointment shifted the nine-judge bench further right with five conservative justices. The Democrats, at several instances, had alleged Trump for exploiting the judiciary to have ruled in his favour.