President Barack Obama made two successful appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States. The first was Judge Sonia Sotomayor[1] to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice David H. Souter.[2] Sotomayor was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 6, 2009, by a vote of 68–31. The second appointment was that of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace the retired John Paul Stevens. Kagan was confirmed by the Senate on August 5, 2010, by a vote of 63–37.
During his final year in office, Obama had an opportunity to fill a third Supreme Court vacancy, following the February 13, 2016, death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. On March 16, 2016, he nominated Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the Court.[3] However, Republican leaders in the Senate announced that they planned to withhold voting on any potential nominee until a new president was elected. Senate Democrats responded that there was sufficient time to vote on a nominee before the election.[4] Consequently, no action was taken on the nomination, which expired in January 2017.
During most of Obama's presidency, there had been speculation about the potential retirement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,[5][6] who turned 80 in 2013 and was previously diagnosed with colon cancer and pancreatic cancer.[7][8] Justice Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020, during Donald Trump's presidency, and was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett on October 27, 2020.
- ^ "Sonia Sotomayor is Obama's Supreme Court nominee - Los Angeles Times". May 28, 2009. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
- ^ Zeleny, Jeff (May 1, 2009). "Obama Announces Souter's Retirement". The Caucus. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
- ^ "President Obama Delivers a Statement on the Passing of Supreme Court Justice Scalia", Rancho Mirage, CA, Feb. 13, 2016, available at [1][dead link]
- ^ "Remarks by the President on the Passing of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia". whitehouse.gov. February 13, 2016. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2016 – via National Archives.
- ^ "White House Prepares for Possibility of 2 Supreme Court Vacancies". ABC News. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
- ^ At Supreme Court, no one rushes into retirement Archived September 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, USA Today (July 13, 2008).
- ^ Adam Liptak, Ginsburg Has Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer Archived April 15, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times (February 5, 2009).
- ^ Carrie Johnson, Ginsburg illness puts focus on Obama's choices Archived July 14, 2017, at the Wayback Machine The Washington Post (February 6, 2009).