Polarization and More SCOTUS Party-Line Votes
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the final questioner of the morning session, made a point to decry increasing partisanship in the Supreme Court confirmation process.
Since 1975, six Supreme Court nominations have been unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, most recently Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s in 1993.
But more recent nominations have seen more dissent.
Both Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan received six negative votes out of the committee (Graham crossed party lines to approve both Obama-nominated picks.)
A few years before, George W. Bush pick Samuel Alito faced a party-line vote from the panel, with eight members — all Democrats — giving him a thumbs down.
That's not counting the two nominations since 1975 that did not win a favorable report out of committee: Robert Bork (whose nomination ultimately failed) and Clarence Thomas (who was confirmed by the full Senate after receiving no recommendation from the committee.)