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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for April 5, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
April 5, 2017: As the Senate prepares to vote on the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, Senate records show that there have been 161 previous presidential nominations. Thirty-seven of those were not confirmed (23 percent).
Ten of the nominations failed because no action was taken by the U.S. Senate. The most recent example of this was Merrick Garland, nominated by President Barack Obama.
Twelve were rejected by the Senate and three more were formally postponed. The most recent rejection of a nominee was that of Robert Bork, nominated by President Ronald Reagan.
Twelve nominations were withdrawn, often due to political resistance. The most recent withdrawn nomination was that of Harriet Miers, nominated by President George W. Bush.
The official numbers may be a bit misleading. For example, John Roberts was initially nominated as an associate justice by President George W. Bush. When the position of chief justice opened up, that nomination was formally withdrawn and Roberts was nominated and confirmed as chief justice.
Additionally, four men were eventually confirmed to a position on the court after their first nomination failed. It is conceivable that if a Democrat wins the 2020 presidential election, Merrick Garland could become the fifth.
The first of these, William Paterson, had his nomination withdrawn over a constitutional question. President George Washington thought it was improper to nominate someone whose Senate term had not yet expired—so he withdrew the nomination and re-nominated Paterson a few weeks later.
Later, no action was taken on President Rutherford B. Hayes’ nomination of Stanley Matthews. However, Matthews was re-nominated by President James Garfield and confirmed by the narrowest vote in Supreme Court history, 24-23.
It’s worth remembering that an appointment to the Supreme Court was not always considered the pinnacle of a legal career. The first chief justice of the United States, John Jay, resigned to become governor of New York. A total of seven men have been nominated and confirmed but declined to serve.
Also, it’s worth noting that changes in the confirmation of Supreme Court nominees have been unfolding for a very long time. Prior to the October 1965 term, 67 justices were confirmed on a voice vote. Since then, no justice has been confirmed on a voice vote. The 1965 term was the first full term after which the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a right of privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut. So it's interesting that the court's recognition of a right of privacy coincides with the very public votes on SCOTUS nominees.
Overall, 113 men and women have served on the Supreme Court, while 26 nominees—that is, 19 percent of all nominees—were rejected.
For more Numbers of the Day about the Gorsuch nomination, see the March 21 and March 28 columns.
- Yesterday's number noted the 44th anniversary of the opening of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center.
- Monday’s number looked at the 283,996 federal regulatory employees and how the number of such positions has increased over the past several decades.
- Last Friday’s number looked at the 31 Pivot Counties in Iowa. These are the counties that voted twice for President Obama and then voted for Donald Trump. There are more Pivot Counties in Iowa than anywhere else in the nation.
- Last Thursday’s number showed that the average worker receives $11.03 per hour in benefits. The increased cost of benefits, primarily related to health insurance, takes more than $3,000 away from salary and wages annually.
- Wednesday's number was $25 billion, the cost of storing paper records in warehouses. We now generate so much paper that a firm is building robots to clean up the mess.
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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