The judicial branch

The nine Justices of the Supreme Court are never elected. They are nominated by the President and serve for life, so a Senate confirmation vote — often decades ago — is the only moment the public's representatives ever weighed in. That vote is shown for each, closest margins first in spirit with the rest of this site.

• John G. Roberts Jr.
  Chief Justice · nominated by George W. Bush · confirmed 2005 (21 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 78–22
• Clarence Thomas
  Associate Justice · nominated by George H. W. Bush · confirmed 1991 (35 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 52–48
• Samuel A. Alito Jr.
  Associate Justice · nominated by George W. Bush · confirmed 2006 (20 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 58–42
• Sonia Sotomayor
  Associate Justice · nominated by Barack Obama · confirmed 2009 (17 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 68–31
• Elena Kagan
  Associate Justice · nominated by Barack Obama · confirmed 2010 (16 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 63–37
• Neil M. Gorsuch
  Associate Justice · nominated by Donald Trump · confirmed 2017 (9 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 54–45
• Brett M. Kavanaugh
  Associate Justice · nominated by Donald Trump · confirmed 2018 (8 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 50–48
• Amy Coney Barrett
  Associate Justice · nominated by Donald Trump · confirmed 2020 (6 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 52–48
• Ketanji Brown Jackson
  Associate Justice · nominated by Joe Biden · confirmed 2022 (4 years on the Court)
  Senate confirmed 53–47

Membership and confirmation votes are hand-maintained and updated when the Court changes. Official biographies: supremecourt.gov.