Supreme Court Confirmation Process
Supreme Court Justices
The president of the United States selects nominees to become United States Supreme Court Justices, subject to the “advice and consent” of the U.S. Senate. Pursuant to this duty, the Senate conducts hearings to assess the qualifications and character of the nominees. Until relatively recently, the nomination and confirmation processes were usually courteous and civil, which is unsurprising considering that Supreme Court nominees are generally among the most capable and distinguished members of the legal profession.
Things have changed. Politics grows increasingly partisan (and nasty) seemingly every day. The 24-hour news cycle and social media (think CNN, Fox News, Twitter, talk radio, etc., etc.) seem only to fuel the fire.
Where once the process sought mainly to ensure that only the best and brightest became Supreme Court justices, now it is mainly about whether the nominee shares your political agenda and can be counted on to rule in favor of your “team.” Regardless of your political persuasion, it is hard to deny that the nomination and confirmation process has deteriorated into a sad and pathetic circus.
Many say that our system of government is broken, fractured beyond repair.
For the discussion board, offer your thoughts on the Supreme Court confirmation process and, if you wish, the current situation of our government.
Review the following videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHyaOluHqEk
AND https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_XI8ZeGNrU
The Supreme Court Confirmation Process
Supreme Court confirmations in the United States have become increasingly controversial in the past few decades. The confirmation process has risen to be just another typical political process rather a solemn state occasion. Currently, a higher percentage of the American population can confirm that Supreme Court Justices are indeed confirmed or rejected on a partisan basis. The state of the Supreme Court Confirmations reveals how the government systems in the United States have deteriorated to being faulty and dysfunctional. The elected leaders even after elections, hardly go past political campaigns. Their entire terms are dedicated toward advancing their political interests at the expense of their duty.
The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court Justice was an unusual event in history that has proved how the Senate is divided into political lines. He was accused by Christine Blasey Ford of sexual assault a move that some senators viewed as a political calculation to bar Kavanaugh from being a Supreme Court Justice while others upheld it as a sincere confession worth a consideration (CBC News, 2018). The Senate voted even before the investigations on this case were concluded and Kavanaugh managed a confirmation of 50-48 (Huebner, 2018). This figure implies that the legislature no longer votes on merit but in political alignments. Kavanaugh, being a nominee by a Republican president won favor from the Republicans in the Senate. Three decades ago Sandra Day O’Connor got a confirmation of 99-0 (Abramson, 2018).
The politicized nature of the current confirmations leads to almost equal votes from the two voting sides. Whether one has been nominated by a Republican or a Democrat president is a determinant whether they will qualify for the top seat or not. Democrats are bound to vote for a nominee by their president whether qualified or not and vice versa.
