The Supreme Court Nomination Process

by Shivanshi Sharma & Neve Walker

Edited by Uday Lingampalli & Harvi Karatha, Layout by Nivi Chozhan, Artwork by Sanjna Mootakoduru

On September 18, 2020, the United States of America was moved by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an icon for women around the world. Justice Ginsburg’s passing also ignited a debate as to who would replace her on the Supreme Court. The presidential elections in the U.S. are just around the corner. Given that the President chooses who will be seated on the Supreme Court, the country is in a state of confusion as to whether President Donald Trump or the person elected on November 3 will choose. Despite which person each administration would choose to be seated in the Supreme Court, the process of seating someone on the Supreme Court will remain the same and is important to understand.

The United States government is divided into three branches: the Legislative branch, the Judicial branch, and the Executive branch. The Supreme Court and its justices are part of the Judicial Branch, and therefore, only the Legislative and Executive branches have a say as to who the Supreme Court consists of. The Supreme Court consists of nine Supreme Court Justices. Once a Justice is seated on the Supreme Court, they are not removed from their position until they retire of pass away. The Constitution of the United States of America does not specify any characteristics that a Supreme Court Justice should have, such as those relating to gender, education, profession, or place of birth. A Justice does not even need to be a lawyer or have gone to law school, which was the case for many of the justices in the 1700s and 1800s: there were not many law schools in the country back then.

The President of the United States nominates someone to be on the Supreme Court once there is a vacant spot, but their nomination still needs to be confirmed by the Senate. Therefore, before revealing who the President announces as their nomination, they usually converse with many Senators to figure out whether their nomination will be confirmed by the Senate or not. Once the President declares their nomination, their nomination gets sent to one of the Senate’s numerous committees, the Judiciary committee. The committee usually takes a month to consider the nominee, by gathering records from the FBI and other sources.

During this time, the nominee usually prepares for their upcoming hearing. After a month, the Judiciary committee holds a hearing in which witnesses that support and oppose the nominee state why they do so. enators in the committee will also have an opportunity to ask the nominee about their beliefs and qualifications. After the hearing, the committee sends their recommendation as to whether they believe that the nominee should be confirmed or rejected to the Senate. Sometimes, they have no recommendation. Then, the entire Senate debates the nominee. Before 2017, the Senate used to allow a practice called filibustering, which allowed unlimited debate. To end the debate, 60 senators needed to vote for it.

However, filibustering is an incredibly frustrating and time consuming process, and therefore, the Senate changed this rule. Now, only 51 senators need to vote to end the debate, which is known as the nuclear option. After the debate ends, the he Senate votes on the nominee. A simple majority, 51 votes, is required to confirm the nominee. If there is a tie (50-50), the Vice President, who presides over the Senate, will vote. If the nominee is confirmed, they will become the newest Supreme Court Justice. This entire process takes about 2-3 months.

Presidential elections are coming up very soon in the United States. Many people believe that the sitting president, President Donald Trump, should get to nominate the next Supreme Court Justice, while others believe that the winner of the upcoming election should nominate a candidate. Supreme Court Justices hold a lot of power and are very influential in the United States of America. Although our President and Senate nominate and confirm our Supreme Court Justices, we elect our President and Senators, so the power of our vote must not be forgotten.