By recapturing the Senate in Tuesday's election,
the Republicans set the stage for the next political battle
- a fight for control of the Supreme Court.
When the current term ends next summer, the nine
justices of the Supreme Court will have been working together,
without any changes in personnel, for nine years.
The last time a group of justices worked together so long was in
the early 1800s. By any measure of history we
are due - indeed, overdue - for a change at the court. For the past
several years, as each term of the court closes,
speculation grows that a retirement announcement is at hand. And
for just as long, the speculation has withered.
The court has simply moved on to the next term.
With the Republican victory, however, a court
vacancy becomes far more likely. At least two of the justices,
Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 78, and Associate
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, 72, reportedly have been
considering retirement for several years. Many
have speculated that one or both of these conservative justices
have been waiting for a favorable political environment
before announcing their departure.
Rehnquist and O'Connor have been on the court
31 and 21 years, respectively. That's a long time in one job
from anyone's perspective. Predicting a retirement
is risky business, but come July, bet on one (or both) of them
to be heading home to Arizona. (Conversely, the
Republican victory likely will make the court's eldest justice,
liberal John Paul Stevens, 82, postpone any retirement
plans.)
Who, then, are the potential nominees, should one of the justices retire?
A number of factors will affect President Bush's
decision. For one, the chief justice position has traditionally been
filled by a nominee who is already a judge. Thus,
if Rehnquist retires, his replacement likely will be someone already
serving in the federal or state judiciary. One
of the sitting justices - Anthony Kennedy, perhaps - might be elevated
to the chief justice position. Or President Bush
might nominate a sitting conservative federal appellate judge. Possible
candidates include J. Harvie Wilkinson and Michael Luttig, both of Virginia,
Edith Jones of Texas and Alex Kozinski
of California, to name just a few.
If Justice O'Connor were to retire (or if a justice
were promoted to chief, leaving an associate justice slot vacant),
President Bush would have greater flexibility
in choosing a replacement. Indeed, he could look completely outside
of the current judiciary. Many observers think
the president would like to appoint the first Hispanic justice. If so,
current White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez,
whom Bush appointed to the Texas Supreme Court, should have
the inside track.
Alternatively, the president could tap any number
of solidly conservative legal scholars in academia. Short lists in
this category often include Richard Epstein,
from the University of Chicago; Douglas Kmiec, dean of the Catholic
University law school; and Eugene Volokh, a very
young candidate from UCLA's law school. Another possibility
with a special appeal is Viet Dinh, a former
professor at Georgetown University who now serves as an assistant
attorney general in the Justice Department; Dinh,
who grew up in Orange County, would be the first Asian-American
appointed to the Supreme Court.
The wild card in these kinds of speculative "name
games," of course, is the Democratic reaction to any nominee.
When campaigning in 2000, President Bush said
he would seek to nominate someone in the mold of Justices
Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, widely considered
the two most conservative justices. Already, some
Democrats (for example, Sen. Ted Kennedy) have
served notice that their party's defeat in this year's elections
won't end their effort to block nominees they
perceive as "extreme."
Conceivably, they could even take the rare (and
nearly unprecedented) step of filibustering a Supreme Court
nominee, requiring 60 votes to end debate. Filibustering
is an extreme tactic. Traditionally it has not been used
in such battles. (It went unused even during
the highly contentious nomination of Clarence Thomas in 1991.)
The last filibuster over a Supreme Court nomination
was in 1968, when the Senate stopped President Lyndon
B. Johnson's effort to elevate Justice Abe Fortas
to chief justice.
The threat of a filibuster might be used to attempt
to force President Bush to name a justice perceived as more
"moderate" by the Democratic opposition. It remains
to be seen just how big a battle will be fought. But make
no mistake, the next Senate battle is looming.
Expect it to hit next July when the term ends and at least one of
the justices announces a retirement.