Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States
Excerpts of Testimony of Jeffrey J. Peck
The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States
July 20, 2021
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In calendar years, it was not too long ago – 1994, in fact – when Stephen Breyer was confirmed, 87–9. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed, 96–3, in 1993. When David Souter was confirmed, 90–9, in 1990. When Anthony Kennedy was confirmed, 97–0, in 1988. When Antonin Scalia was confirmed, 98–0, in 1986. And when Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed, 99–0, in 1981. Strong bipartisan majorities often prevailed.
In political years, these consensus confirmations reflect a bygone era akin to the locomotive, the Model T and wired telephones. Will any nominee to the highest court in the land ever get 90 votes again? Doubtful, since at present there are likely to be at least 25 negative votes before hearings begin, regardless of which party controls the White House and the Senate; indeed, there may be that many automatic negative votes before a nomination is even announced!
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During the past few months, I conducted 25 interviews[1] -- 13 Republicans and 12 Democrats, thereby ensuring that both sides of the political spectrum were fairly represented.[2] All respondents served in the Senate as Senators or senior staff, typically as committee chief counsels, staff directors, senior nomination counsels or senior leadership staff. Time constraints and respondent availability limited the overall number…My objective was to speak with individuals spanning as broad a range of nominations as possible to secure bipartisan perspectives from multiple political eras. Accordingly, the responses discussed herein cover 17 nominations between Sandra Day O’Connor (1981) and Amy Coney Barrett (2020)…
As detailed therein, I covered eight areas with all interviewees.
- Biographical Information
- General Observations
- The Senate’s Advice Function
- Role of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Scope of Questioning
December 2021 | 255
