# Plain Language Summary: Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act of 2023

This bill would fundamentally change how Supreme Court justices are appointed and how long they serve. Right now, Supreme Court justices serve for life—they can stay on the bench until they decide to retire or pass away. This bill would end that system and instead require every Supreme Court justice to serve for exactly 18 years and then step down. Once a justice's 18-year term is up, they would automatically retire from active service, though they could potentially handle some limited judicial work in a reduced capacity.

The bill also creates a regular appointment schedule so that every president gets predictable opportunities to appoint justices. Starting after the next presidential election, the president would appoint one new justice during the first year of their term and another during the third year. This means every president serving a full four-year term would get to appoint two justices, and the appointments would happen on a predictable schedule rather than whenever a justice happens to retire or die. The Senate would have 90 days to confirm each nominee, or 120 days if a nomination is withdrawn and resubmitted.

For the nine justices currently serving when this law would take effect, the transition would happen gradually. They would retire in order based on how long they've already served, with the longest-serving justice retiring first as each new justice is appointed. This staggered approach means the Court wouldn't suddenly lose all its current members at once. The bill also includes a provision that if the Court temporarily falls below nine justices due to illness or other reasons, a retired justice could be temporarily called back to fill the gap through a random selection process chosen by the Chief Justice.