Nomination and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States

The nomination, confirmation, and appointment of Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States involves several steps set forth by the Constitution. The President has the plenary power to nominate, while the Senate possesses the plenaries power to reject or confirm the nominee. Most Presidents nominate individuals who broadly share their ideological views. In many cases, however, a Justice’s decisions may be contrary to what the nominating President anticipated.

About Nomination and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States in brief

The nomination, confirmation, and appointment of Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States involves several steps set forth by the Constitution. The Constitution does not set any qualifications for service as a Justice, thus the President may nominate any individual to serve on the Court. In November 2013, the then-Democratic Senate majority eliminated the filibuster for executive branch nominees and judicial nominees except for Supreme Court nominees, invoking the so-called nuclear option. In April 2017, the Republican Senate majority applied the nuclear option to Supreme Court nominations as well, enabling the nomination of Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch to proceed to a vote. The Senate Judiciary Committee plays a key role in that process, as each Supreme Court nomination comes before it for review. At the close of hearings, the committee votes on whether the nomination should go to the full Senate with a positive, neutral report. The second nominee to appear before the Judiciary Committee was Felix Fiske, who only addressed what he considered to be slanderous allegations against him in 1925. The modern practice of interviewing nominees personally is relatively new, but it has been in practice since the 1930s, when it was the practice of the House Judiciary Committee to interview Supreme Court Justices. The nomination process has attracted considerable public attention in modern times, but the confirmation process has been relatively quiet since the 1980s, with the exception of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in 2008. The President has the plenary power to nominate, while the Senate possesses the plenaries power to reject or confirm the nominee.

Most Presidents nominate individuals who broadly share their ideological views. In many cases, however, a Justice’s decisions may be contrary to what the nominating President anticipated. A famous instance was Chief Justice Earl Warren; President Dwight D. Eisenhower expected him to be a conservative judge, but his decisions are arguably among the most liberal in the Court’s history. In 1990, David Souter, who was nominated to the high court in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush, generally fell on the liberal side of the political spectrum. After a first choice is decided, the candidate is contacted and called on by the President to serve. The nominee then meets with senators and prepares for confirmation hearings. The candidate is then told to prepare a statement for an appearance in front of the national press for the President’s formal announcement. After the nominee is confirmed by the Senate, the Senate votes to send the nomination to the President, who can then formally appoint the candidate to the court. The process is relatively recent, with recent nominees only addressing what he or she considers to be slanderous allegations against him or her in 1925, when he was nominated for the post of Justice Stone. In recent years, the process has become more formal, with nominees being interviewed by White House officials before being sent to the White House to be interviewed in person by the president. A formal FBI background check is conducted. The White House staff visits the candidate and goes over tax records and payments to domestic help.