Question: Who Selects Supreme Court Justices?
Answer: New Supreme Court justices are nominated by the President of the United States, and must also be approved by the U.S. Senate.
The power to appoint Supreme Court justices is granted under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states in part (emphasis mine):
The power to appoint Supreme Court justices is granted under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states in part (emphasis mine):
[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law ...Only three justices have been rejected by the U.S. Senate over the past 50 years:
- Southern judges Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell were nominated by President Richard Nixon, in 1969 and 1970 respectively, to replace the resigning Justice Abe Fortas. Both were narrowly rejected by the Senate due to past support of racial segregation.
- Former acting attorney general Robert Bork was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, but narrowly rejected by the Senate due to his extreme socially conservative views.
