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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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12/2016
Angelika The question that everyone asks: What can, wants and will Donald Trump actually implement from his election promises? One thing is certain: through him, the Supreme Court of the United States will experience a stronger conservative swing, as in the event of new appointments to the nine highest judicial positions, the president plays an important role.
Since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, the Supreme Court has had an open seat and two of the more liberal justices, namely Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, are already quite elderly. Ginsburg is 83 years old and not very healthy. Breyer is already 86 years old. And Justice Kennedy, who once took a more liberal stance but then again often sided with the conservatives, is also already 80 years old. Supreme Court justices can wear their robes as long as they want; there is no mandatory retirement age. Most of them actually die of old age in office.
The position of Scalia, who passed away in February, should have been filled long ago. This has not happened, as the Senate is also involved in the nomination of new judges, and most Republican representatives refused to consider Judge Merrick Garland, whom President Obama had nominated as his successor.
This completely undemocratic behavior was not punished by voters on November 9th, however. Trump can now nominate a candidate for Scalia, and since the Senate has a -- even if narrow -- Republican majority after the election, this is likely to be more in line with the party's agenda. The Judiciary Committee of the Senate will first question the proposed candidate, and if the committee deems them qualified, the nomination will be put to a vote in the full Senate. Usually, confirmation requires only a simple majority. A so-called filibuster, the political strategy in the Senate to delay votes through endless talking, can lead to the need for a supermajority of 60 votes to reach a decision. Whoever Trump nominates as a judge, the candidate will eventually land in the Supreme Court, postponing the change is not possible, at most delaying it.
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