The Supreme Court's newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, will report for his first day on the job on Tuesday.
Following a contentious confirmation process that left the Senate and the country divided on whether Kavanaugh is fit for the high court, the newest justice will be seated when the court gets back to work Tuesday, following the Columbus Day holiday.
How will the addition of Kavanaugh to the court change its makeup? Here’s a look at the members of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court fast facts:
- There are nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court – eight associated justices and the chief justice.
- According to the Constitution, the president nominates candidates for the Supreme Court, and the Senate approves the candidates.
- There is no difference in the approval process for the chief justice than for the associate justices.
- A Supreme Court justice's term is for life, but they can be removed by impeachment by the Congress. No justice has ever been impeached.
- William Howard Taft is the only president to have sat on the Supreme Court. Taft took a seat on the court after he left the White House.
- Two Supreme Court justices have had their face on U.S. currency – John Marshall who appeared on the $500 bill, and Salmon P. Chase who graced the $10,000 bill.
- Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist were sworn in on the same day, Jan. 7, 1972.
- Jimmy Carter is the only president to have served a complete term and not have the opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court justice.
- The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary is charged with evaluating nominees to the Supreme Court. They rank the nominees as either qualified, well-qualified, or not qualified.
The current members of the Supreme Court are:
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer
John Roberts
Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch
Brett Kavanaugh
Ages
Thomas – 70
Ginsburg – 85
Breyer – 79
Roberts – 63
Alito – 68
Kagan – 58
Sotomayor - 64
Gorsuch - 50
Kavanaugh – 53
When they took the bench
Thomas - 1991
Ginsburg - 1993
Breyer - 1994
Roberts - 2005
Alito - 2006
Sotomayor - 2009
Kagan - 2010
Gorsuch - 2017
Kavanaugh - 2018
Confirmation vote tally
Here is the vote count for Senate confirmation for the sitting Supreme Court justices:
Thomas 52-48
Ginsburg 96-3
Breyer 87-9
Roberts 78-22
Alito 58-42
Sotomayor 68-31
Kagan 63-37
Gorsuch 54-45
Kavanaugh 50-48
Nominated by which president
Goerge H.W. Bush: Thomas
Bill Clinton: Ginsburg, Breyer
George W. Bush: Roberts, Alito
Barack Obama: Sotomayor, Kagan
Donald Trump: Gorsuch, Kavanaugh
Which law schools they graduated from
Thomas – Yale
Ginsburg – Columbia/Harvard
Breyer – Harvard
Roberts – Harvard
Alito – Yale
Sotomayor – Yale
Kagan – Harvard
Gorsuch – Harvard
Kavanaugh – Yale
Years as a judge before their appointment to the Supreme Court
Thomas – 1
Ginsburg – 13
Breyer – 14
Roberts – 2
Alito – 16
Sotomayor – 17
Kagan – 0
Gorsuch – 11
Kavanaugh – 12
What they oversee on the court
Thomas – Oversees the Eleventh Circuit.
Ginsburg – Oversees the Second Circuit.
Breyer – Oversees the First Circuit.
Roberts – Oversees the District of Columbia Circuit, the Fourth Circuit and the Federal Circuit.
Alito – Oversees the Third and Fifth Circuits.
Sotomayor – Oversees the Tenth Circuit.
Kagan – Oversees the Sixth and Seventh Circuits.
Gorsuch – Oversees the Eighth Circuit.
Kavanaugh – Replacing Kennedy who oversaw the Ninth Circuit.
The judges’ religion
Thomas - Catholic
Ginsburg - Jewish
Breyer - Jewish
Roberts - Catholic
Alito - Catholic
Sotomayor - Catholic
Kagan - Jewish
Gorsuch – raised Catholic; attends an Episcopal church
Kavanaugh – Catholic
Marital status
Seven of the nine justices are married. Sotomayor is divorced and Kagan has not been married.
The seven who are married are also parents.
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