Will America soon have 15 Supreme Court Justices? 

The possibility remains far off, but President Joe Biden took a first step to at least considering it.

• This week, he established a commission to study the Supreme Court: The commission has 36 members and is tasked with looking into term limits and the size of the Supreme Court. 

• SCOTUS started with six justices in 1789: The number of justices was as high as 10 under Abraham Lincoln, and has been set at nine since 1869. Congress can change the number because the Constitution sets no rules for it. 

• The commission contains plenty of boldface legal names: Former Obama White House Counsel Bob Bauer and Yale professor Cristina Rodriguez are the chairs. Members include several conservatives, including from the American Enterprise Institute.    

This will be about more than the size of the court, too

Expect the legal minds to get wonky: Biden’s staff says the commission may also explore the Court’s case selection methods and its Constitutional role. 

The Verdict

Whatever the commission recommends, changes to SCOTUS will be difficult. Democrats would likely need to abolish the filibuster first.