“增加最高法院大法官人数的具体流程是怎样的？”——玛丽·卡罗尔您好，玛丽。流程其实很简单：由国会通过相关法案，再由总统签署使之成为法律即可。不过现实中的政治因素则要复杂得多。
“What would be the procedure for adding more justices to the Supreme Court?” — Mary Carroll Hi Mary, The procedure is simple: Congress passes a bill and the president signs it into law. The political reality, however, is more complicated.
目前最高法院共有九名大法官，但宪法并未对这一人数作出硬性规定，法院本身也无法自行决定成员数量，这一切都取决于政治层面的决策。上一次调整发生在1869年，当时通过法律将大法官人数定为九人，此后便一直维持这一数字。
Currently, there are nine justices But that number isn’t fixed by the Constitution, and the court doesn’t set its own membership. It’s up to the political branches. The last change was in 1869, with a law that put the court at nine, where it has been ever since.
但同样，宪法中没有任何条款规定这一人数必须保持不变。因此，问题就在于我们是否会通过民选代表来决定改变这一人数，还是维持原状。
But again, nothing in the Constitution says it must stay that way. It is therefore a question of whether we, through our elected representatives, choose to change that number or let it stay the same.
从程序层面来看，扩大大法官人数与设定任期限制截然不同。后者可能需要修改宪法，因为宪法赋予了联邦法官终身任职的权利。正因如此，相较于扩大大法官人数这一更为有效的改革措施，设定任期限制的改革在操作上要困难得多。
Procedurally, contrast court expansion with term limits, which could require a constitutional amendment because the Constitution gives federal judges life tenure. That makes the relatively modest reform of term limits more procedurally challenging than the more potent reform of expansion.
不过任何改革都面临政治阻力。目前共和党掌控着国会，民主党则试图在11月的中期选举中夺回权力。即便民主党成功拿下众议院和参议院，唐纳德·特朗普仍是总统。他绝不会支持民主党推动的改革，而民主党议员们也不愿批准特朗普为新增大法官席位所提名的候选人。
But any reform faces political challenges. Republicans currently control Congress, and Democrats are looking to regain power in the November midterm elections Even if they win back both the House and the Senate, Donald Trump is still president. He wouldn’t support Democratic-backed reform, and Democratic senators wouldn’t want to confirm any justices he would nominate to any new seats.
倘若未来民主党同时掌控国会与白宫，这一议题或许才具备可行性。在乔·拜登执政期间，民主党也曾同时掌控两院，但拜登本人并不支持增加大法官人数。
The conversation could become more plausible should Democrats control both Congress and the White House in the future. They had that control during Joe Biden’s presidency, but he did not support expansion.
尽管如此，这一议题仍在国会及关于最高法院的舆论讨论中备受关注。部分民主党人主张将大法官人数增至13人——这一数字与目前美国下级巡回上诉法院的数量相当，也能以此抵消共和党人为制造当前6比3的多数格局所带来的影响。
Still, it’s a live issue in the Congress and the commentary surrounding the court. Some Democrats have advocated for expanding to 13 justices— to reflect the number of lower circuit courts today, and to compensate for GOP gamesmanship in crafting the current 6-3 majority.
与此同时，国会中的共和党人推动了一项宪法修正案，旨在将最高法院的法官人数固定为九人。尽管他们拥有多数席位，但由于在众议院中占少数的民主党人拥有足够的票数来阻止该修正案的通过，该提案上个月未能成功。
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans have pushed for a constitutional amendment to cement the court at nine members. Although they hold the majority, the measure failed last month because House Democrats in the minority had enough votes to block it.
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