<P> It is also theoretically possible for Congress to create additional vacancies by expanding the Court itself . The United States Constitution does not specify the size of the Supreme Court , but in Article III it authorizes the Congress to fix the number of justices . The Judiciary Act of 1789 called for the appointment of six justices . As the country grew geographically , Congress increased the number of justices to correspond with the growing number of judicial circuits . In 1807 , the court was expanded to seven members , allowing Thomas Jefferson to appoint Thomas Todd as a new Justice . The expansion to nine members in 1837 allowed Andrew Jackson to appoint John Catron , and Martin Van Buren to appoint John McKinley ; and the addition of a tenth seat in 1863 allowed Abraham Lincoln to name Stephen Johnson Field to the Court . However , at the request of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase , Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act ( 1866 ) which provided that the next three justices to retire would not be replaced ; thus , the size of the Court should have eventually reached seven by attrition . Consequently , one seat was removed in 1866 and a second in 1867 . However , this law did not play out to completion , for in the Judiciary Act of 1869 , also known as the Circuit Judges Act , the number of justices was again set at nine , where it has since remained . The new seat created in 1869 was filled the following year by Ulysses S. Grant 's appointment of Joseph P. Bradley - the last justice to be appointed to a newly created seat on the Court . </P>
<P> It is also theoretically possible for Congress to create additional vacancies by expanding the Court itself . The United States Constitution does not specify the size of the Supreme Court , but in Article III it authorizes the Congress to fix the number of justices . The Judiciary Act of 1789 called for the appointment of six justices . As the country grew geographically , Congress increased the number of justices to correspond with the growing number of judicial circuits . In 1807 , the court was expanded to seven members , allowing Thomas Jefferson to appoint Thomas Todd as a new Justice . The expansion to nine members in 1837 allowed Andrew Jackson to appoint John Catron , and Martin Van Buren to appoint John McKinley ; and the addition of a tenth seat in 1863 allowed Abraham Lincoln to name Stephen Johnson Field to the Court . However , at the request of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase , Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act ( 1866 ) which provided that the next three justices to retire would not be replaced ; thus , the size of the Court should have eventually reached seven by attrition . Consequently , one seat was removed in 1866 and a second in 1867 . However , this law did not play out to completion , for in the Judiciary Act of 1869 , also known as the Circuit Judges Act , the number of justices was again set at nine , where it has since remained . The new seat created in 1869 was filled the following year by Ulysses S. Grant 's appointment of Joseph P. Bradley - the last justice to be appointed to a newly created seat on the Court . </P>
who determines the number of justices on the supreme court
who determines the number of justices on the supreme court
Congress
Congress