Justice ideology based on Martin-Quinn scores
Nominated by a Republican
Nominated by a Democrat
+4
MORE CONSERVATIVE
Thomas
MORE LIBERAL
Alito
+2
Scalia
Median justice
Roberts
+0
Kennedy
Breyer
Kagan
–2
Sotomayor
Ginsburg
–4
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2014 term
Justice ideology based on Martin-Quinn scores
Nominated by a Republican
Nominated by a Democrat
+4
MORE CONSERVATIVE
Thomas
MORE LIBERAL
Alito
+2
Scalia
Roberts
+0
Kennedy
Median justice
Breyer
Kagan
–2
Sotomayor
Ginsburg
–4
1970
1980
1990
2000
2014 term
Justice ideology based on Martin-Quinn scores
Nominated by a Democrat
Nominated by a Republican
+4
MORE CONSERVATIVE
Thomas
MORE LIBERAL
Alito
+2
Scalia
Median justice
Roberts
+0
Kennedy
Breyer
Kagan
–2
Sotomayor
Ginsburg
–4
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2014 term
How Long Does It Take to Confirm a Supreme Court Nominee?
The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has set off a partisan battle over whether the Senate will confirm a successor nominated by President Obama, whose term expires in 342 days. The Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a successor from the time of nomination; on average, a nominee has been confirmed, rejected or withdrawn in 25 days. But few presidents have successfully filled vacancies announced in their final full year.
President | Nominee | Days from nomination to result | |
---|---|---|---|
Barack Obama | Elena Kagan | 87 | Confirmed |
Barack Obama | Sonia Sotomayor | 66 | |
George W. Bush | Samuel Alito Jr. | 82 | |
George W. Bush | Harriet Miers | 21 | Withdrawn |
George W. Bush | John G. Roberts Jr. | 23 | |
George W. Bush | John G. Roberts Jr. | 39 | Withdrawn |
Mr. Roberts's nomination was withdrawn and resubmitted after the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. | |||
Bill Clinton | Stephen Breyer | 73 | |
Bill Clinton | Ruth Bader Ginsburg | 50 | |
George H.W. Bush | Clarence Thomas | 99 | |
George H.W. Bush | David Souter | 69 | |
Ronald Reagan | Anthony Kennedy | 65 | |
Ronald Reagan | Robert Bork | 114 | Rejected |
Ronald Reagan | Antonin Scalia | 85 | |
Ronald Reagan | William Rehnquist | 89 | |
Ronald Reagan | Sandra Day O'Connor | 33 | |
Gerald Ford | John Paul Stevens | 19 | |
Richard Nixon | William Rehnquist | 49 | |
Richard Nixon | Lewis Powell Jr. | 45 | |
Richard Nixon | Harry Blackmun | 27 | |
Richard Nixon | G. Harrold Carswell | 79 | Rejected |
Richard Nixon | Clement Haynsworth Jr. | 92 | Rejected |
Richard Nixon | Warren Burger | 17 | |
Lyndon Johnson | Homer Thornberry | 100 | Withdrawn |
Lyndon Johnson | Abe Fortas | 100 | Withdrawn |
Lyndon Johnson | Thurgood Marshall | 78 | |
Lyndon Johnson | Abe Fortas | 14 | |
John F. Kennedy | Arthur Goldberg | 25 | |
John F. Kennedy | Byron White | 8 | |
Dwight Eisenhower | Potter Stewart | 108 | |
Dwight Eisenhower | William Brennan Jr. | 64 | |
Dwight Eisenhower | Charles Whittaker | 17 | |
Dwight Eisenhower | John Harlan | 65 | |
Dwight Eisenhower | Earl Warren | 49 | |
Harry S. Truman | Sherman Minton | 19 | |
Harry S. Truman | Tom Clark | 16 | |
Harry S. Truman | Fred Vinson | 14 | |
Harry S. Truman | Harold Burton | 0 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Wiley Rutledge | 28 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Robert Jackson | 25 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Harlan Stone | 15 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | James Byrnes | 0 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Frank Murphy | 12 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | William Douglas | 15 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Felix Frankfurter | 12 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Stanley Reed | 10 | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Hugo Black | 5 | |
Herbert Hoover | Benjamin Cardozo | 9 | |
Herbert Hoover | Owen Roberts | 11 | |
Herbert Hoover | John Parker | 47 | Rejected |
Herbert Hoover | Charles Hughes | 10 | |
Calvin Coolidge | Harlan Stone | 31 | |
Warren Harding | Edward Sanford | 5 | |
Warren Harding | Pierce Butler | 16 | |
Warren Harding | George Sutherland | 0 | |
Warren Harding | William Taft | 0 | |
Woodrow Wilson | John Clarke | 10 | |
Woodrow Wilson | Louis Brandeis | 125 | |
Woodrow Wilson | James McReynolds | 10 | |
William H. Taft | Mahlon Pitney | 23 | |
William H. Taft | Willis Van Devanter | 3 | |
William H. Taft | Joseph Lamar | 3 | |
William H. Taft | Edward White | 0 | |
William H. Taft | Charles Hughes | 7 | |
William H. Taft | Horace Lurton | 7 | |
Theodore Roosevelt | William Moody | 9 | |
Theodore Roosevelt | William Day | 4 | |
Theodore Roosevelt | Oliver Holmes | 2 | |
William McKinley | Joseph McKenna | 36 | |
Grover Cleveland | Rufus Peckham | 6 | |
Grover Cleveland | Edward White | 0 | |
Grover Cleveland | Wheeler Peckham | 25 | Rejected |
Grover Cleveland | William Hornblower | 41 | Rejected |
Benjamin Harrison | Howell Jackson | 16 | |
Benjamin Harrison | George Shiras Jr. | 7 | |
Benjamin Harrison | Henry Brown | 6 | |
Benjamin Harrison | David Brewer | 14 | |
Grover Cleveland | Melville Fuller | 81 | |
Grover Cleveland | Lucius Lamar | 41 | |
Chester A. Arthur | Samuel Blatchford | 9 | |
Chester A. Arthur | Roscoe Conkling | 6 | Declined to serve |
Chester A. Arthur | Horace Gray | 1 | |
James Garfield | Stanley Matthews | 59 | |
Rutherford B. Hayes | William Woods | 6 | |
Rutherford B. Hayes | John Harlan | 44 | |
Ulysses S. Grant | Morrison Waite | 2 | |
Ulysses S. Grant | Caleb Cushing | 4 | Withdrawn |
Ulysses S. Grant | George Williams | 38 | Withdrawn |
Ulysses S. Grant | Ward Hunt | 8 | |
Ulysses S. Grant | Joseph Bradley | 42 | |
Ulysses S. Grant | William Strong | 11 | |
Ulysses S. Grant | Ebenezer Hoar | 51 | Rejected |
Ulysses S. Grant | Edwin Stanton | 0 | |
Abraham Lincoln | Salmon Chase | 0 | |
Abraham Lincoln | Stephen Field | 4 | |
Abraham Lincoln | David Davis | 7 | |
Abraham Lincoln | Samuel Miller | 0 | |
Abraham Lincoln | Noah Swayne | 3 | |
James Buchanan | Jeremiah Black | 16 | Rejected |
James Buchanan | Nathan Clifford | 34 | |
Franklin Pierce | John Campbell | 1 | |
Millard Fillmore | George Badger | 42 | Withdrawn |
Millard Fillmore | Benjamin Curtis | 9 | |
James K. Polk | Robert Grier | 1 | |
James K. Polk | Levi Woodbury | 39 | |
James K. Polk | George Woodward | 30 | Rejected |
John Tyler | Samuel Nelson | 10 | |
John Tyler | Edward King | 65 | Withdrawn |
John Tyler | Reuben Walworth | 62 | Withdrawn |
John Tyler | John Spencer | 0 | Withdrawn |
John Tyler | Reuben Walworth | 96 | Withdrawn |
John Tyler | Edward King | 10 | |
John Tyler | John Spencer | 22 | Rejected |
Martin Van Buren | Peter Daniel | 4 | |
Martin Van Buren | John McKinley | 7 | |
Andrew Jackson | John Catron | 5 | |
Andrew Jackson | William Smith | 5 | Declined to serve |
Andrew Jackson | Philip Barbour | 78 | |
Andrew Jackson | Roger Taney | 78 | |
Andrew Jackson | Roger Taney | 47 | |
Andrew Jackson | James Wayne | 3 | |
Andrew Jackson | Henry Baldwin | 2 | |
Andrew Jackson | John McLean | 1 | |
John Q. Adams | John Crittenden | 57 | |
John Q. Adams | Robert Trimble | 28 | |
James Monroe | Smith Thompson | 4 | |
James Madison | Gabriel Duvall | 3 | |
James Madison | Joseph Story | 3 | |
James Madison | John Quincy Adams | 1 | Declined to serve |
James Madison | Alexander Wolcott | 9 | Rejected |
James Madison | Levi Lincoln | 1 | Declined to serve |
Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Todd | 2 | |
Thomas Jefferson | H. Brockholst Livingston | 4 | |
Thomas Jefferson | William Johnson | 2 | |
Thomas Jefferson | John Marshall | 7 | |
Thomas Jefferson | John Jay | 1 | Declined to serve |
Thomas Jefferson | Alfred Moore | 6 | |
Thomas Jefferson | Bushrod Washington | 1 | |
George Washington | Oliver Ellsworth | 1 | |
George Washington | William Cushing | 1 | Declined to serve |
George Washington | Samuel Chase | 1 | |
George Washington | John Rutledge | 5 | Rejected |
George Washington | William Paterson | 0 | |
George Washington | William Paterson | 1 | Withdrawn |
George Washington | Thomas Johnson | 6 | |
George Washington | James Iredell | 2 | |
George Washington | John Blair | 2 | |
George Washington | James Wilson | 2 | |
George Washington | Robert Harrison | 2 | Declined to serve |
George Washington | William Cushing | 2 | |
George Washington | John Rutledge | 2 | |
George Washington | John Jay | 2 |