Supreme Court Nominations

Since 1789, Presidents have submitted 159 Supreme Court nominations to the Senate for advice and consent. Of the 159 nominations officially submitted, 123 were confirmed with 7 ultimately declining to serve. Of the 36 nominations not confirmed, 12 were rejected by the Senate, 11 were withdrawn, 10 had no action, and 3 were postponed.

George Washington made 14 nominations, the most of any President. John Rutledge, President Washington’s nominee to replace Chief Justice John Jay, was the first nomination to be rejected by the Senate. Justice Harlan Stone, in 1925, was the first nominee to appear and offer testimony on behalf of his own nomination.

Supreme Court Nominations (U.S. Senate)
Provides a comprehensive table covering Supreme Court nominations from 1789 to present. Includes nominating President, name of nominee, Justice to be replaced, date of nomination, confirmation vote, result and result date.

Supreme Court Nominations (Library of Congress)
Provides links to documents for nominations confirmed and for nominations not confirmed or withdrawn from 1968 to present. Nomination documents provided include Senate floor debates while in Executive Session, votes, hearing transcripts, and Senate statements made about the nominees outside of Executive Session.

Supreme Court Nomination Hearings (Government Printing Office)
Provides hearing transcripts beginning with the nominations of Justices Rehnquist and Powell in 1971 up to Justice Alito in 2006. Does not yet include hearing transcripts for Justice Sotomayor. (Includes hearing transcripts for successful nominations only.)

Judiciary Committee Votes On Recent Supreme Court Nominees
Provides Committee votes by party and member from 1971 to present.

The Supreme Court of the United States: hearings and reports on successful and unsuccessful nominations of Supreme Court Justices by the Senate Judiciary Committee
Provides an exhaustive collection of hearings, reports and other documents, when publicly available, for the nominations of Justice Brandeis in 1916 up to Justice Alito in 2006. Available in print in the Langdell Reading Room at KF 8744 .J8. 1977x.

SCOTUS Blog
Provides the latest musings on the Supreme Court including nominations.

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