# Plain Language Summary: Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act of 2023

This bill would fundamentally change how Supreme Court justices are appointed and how long they serve. Currently, Supreme Court justices serve for life unless they choose to retire. This bill would create an 18-year term limit for justices and establish a regular schedule for appointing new ones. Specifically, the president would appoint one new justice every two years—one in the first year after a presidential election and another in the third year after that election. This means every presidential term would result in two new Supreme Court appointments happening on a predictable schedule.

The bill also changes what happens when a justice reaches their 18-year mark. Instead of serving for life, they would automatically transition to "senior justice" status, meaning they could still do some judicial work if asked, but they wouldn't be part of the regular nine-justice panel that decides cases. The nine active justices would always be the nine most recently appointed ones. However, there's an important exception: any justice already serving when this law passes would not be affected by these rules—they could continue serving for life as they do now.

One controversial aspect of the bill involves the Senate's confirmation process. If the Senate doesn't vote on a presidential nominee within 120 days, the nominee would automatically become a justice without Senate approval. This is meant to prevent the Senate from indefinitely blocking appointments, but it significantly limits the Senate's traditional power to reject judicial nominees.

The bill would also allow retired justices to temporarily fill vacancies that occur between regular appointment cycles, ensuring the Court always has nine active justices. Overall, this legislation would make Supreme Court appointments more predictable and frequent, potentially reducing the stakes of individual presidential elections while also limiting the Senate's ability to block nominees.