The Wall Street Journal’s John Fund notes that the shrinking Democratic majority in the Senate could nudge retirements in the ranks of liberal Supreme Court justices ? the idea being that lefty justices might step down in the spring rather than risk having their seats filled by a moderate or (horror) conservative should the Senate go Republican in the fall.
The court’s session typically ends around the first of June, and as Fund reports, Justice John Paul Stevens will almost certainly retire. Should Ruth Bader Ginsburg join Stevens, she’ll probably need to let the president know within the next few weeks. Why? Under the smoothest circumstances, it takes several months to confirm federal judges, as this editorial I wrote at the Rocky Mountain News spells out.
I attended the rare meeting with reporters District Judge Edward Nottingham hosted at his Denver office. He explained that his initial appointment to the bench in 1989 was fast-tracked, and yet it was nearly 10 months after the first President Bush’s inauguration before Nottingham was sworn in. Potential nominees, even those for the trial bench, must undergo extensive vetting and background checks before their names are submitted to the Senate. The Senate then conducts its own investigation and interviews before the confirmation hearings are scheduled. The process doesn’t take place overnight.
So keep an eye on the calendar. If Ginsburg hasn’t started packing her office by Memorial Day, she’s almost certainly staying on the court for another year.
