The US House of Representatives has voted down a Republican-backed resolution that would have permanently fixed the Supreme Court's size at nine justices, its current number. The measure received 212 votes in favour and 206 against — well short of the two-thirds majority required to amend the US Constitution. The vote is largely a political manoeuvre ahead of November's midterm elections, designed to put Democrats on record over the contentious issue of "court packing," a term used by opponents of proposals to add justices to counter the court's current conservative supermajority.