Fastest Justice Nomination-to-Confirmation Was Not 47 Days
The Claim
The fastest confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice nomination was just 47 days.
News posted on
Emerging story
On September 19, 2020, Joe Biden commented on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. He mentioned that the fastest time a Supreme Court Justice has ever been confirmed is 47 days. Users across social media shared the claim.
Misbar’s Analysis
The Misbar team has determined that this claim is false. A report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in September 2018 showed that since 1975, three Supreme Court nominees were confirmed in fewer than 47 days from the time their names were formally sent to the Senate for consideration.
The late Associate Justice John Paul Stevens was confirmed in 19 days in 1975, while former Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed in 1981 in 33 days in 1981, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed in just 42 days back in 1993.
The CRS noted in their report that “the average number of days from nomination to final Senate vote is 69.6 days (or approximately 2.3 months), while the median is 69.0 days.”
According to a New York Times report, “the Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a successor from the time of nomination; on average, a nominee has been confirmed, rejected or withdrawn in 25 days.”
