Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently missed oral arguments, and there was speculation that she may soon retire from the Supreme Court of the United States.  While her health appears to have stabilized, it is not too soon to think about her eventual retirement.  If this happens during the Trump presidency, President Trump will have the opportunity to appoint a third justice to the nation's highest court.  Assuming that this happens, there are several reasons why Trump's new nominee is likely to face an even tougher confirmation process than Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.  Also, one must question whether other highly qualified candidates will be deterred from pursuing a position on the Supreme Court, given the manner in which congressional Democrats treated Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.  

When Justice Gorsuch was nominated, he took the place of Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February 2016.  Scalia was a conservative, as is Gorsuch.  Therefore, it was seemingly an even swap.  However, what should have been a relatively uneventful confirmation turned into a political brawl.  According to Fox News, Republicans "triggered the "nuclear option" to kill the 60-vote filibuster threshold for Supreme Court nominees."  More than a year passed before Gorsuch was finally confirmed.

The process involving Justice Brett Kavanaugh was no easier.  Kavanaugh was nominated by President Trump to replace retiring justice Anthony M. Kennedy.  Kennedy was traditionally the swing vote on the Supreme Court, while Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, is a conservative constitutionalist.  Therefore, Democrats had more to lose by replacing a swing voter (who leaned to the right on some issues) with a Trump-appointed strict constructionist.  As a result, they put Kavanaugh through a grueling and unnecessarily cruel confirmation process.              

Before Kavanaugh was even confirmed, some Democrats were already talking about impeaching him.  He underwent FBI investigations, over thirty hours of testimony, individual meetings with Senators, and a public hearing where he had to defend himself against uncorroborated and unsubstantiated allegations of sexual assault.  Many Democrats never wanted Kavanaugh, or any other Trump-appointed nominee, on the Supreme Court.  After a vicious battle, Judge Kavanaugh was rightfully confirmed to the Supreme Court

The events involving Gorsuch and Kavanaugh should serve as a warning to President Trump and congressional Republicans.  Should Ginsburg soon retire or be unable to serve, Trump's next nominee will likely face an extremely contentious confirmation process.  Unlike with Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, the situation involving Ginsburg is significantly different, because Trump would have the opportunity to replace one the Supreme Court's liberal voice with a conservative constitutionalist's.

With Ginsburg, the Court currently consists of five conservative and four liberal justices.  If Ginsburg leaves while Trump is in office, and Trump appoints another conservative justice, the Supreme Court will have a strong conservative majority.  For this reason, Democrats are likely going to do whatever they can to defeat any potential Trump-appointed nominee.

The fact that congressional Democrats treated Gorsuch and Kavanaugh with such disdain and viciousness leads to a broader question: will future Supreme Court nominees willingly subject themselves to the type of treatment that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh had to endure?  More importantly, should they have to endure such treatment?  The way congressional Democrats' treated Gorsuch and Kavanaugh undoubtedly marred the confirmation process and will likely serve to deter some potentially well qualified prospects from seeking this highly coveted role. 

The president needs to start preparing now for Ginsburg's eventual retirement.  With this in mind, he should begin to thoroughly vet any potential nominee so that there are no surprises down the road.  As Senate Democrats proved during the Kavanaugh confirmation process, nothing is off limits.  The president and Republicans need to approach this hearing with the mindset that Democrats will go to any lengths to defeat his nomination and prepare any potential nominee accordingly.

Nobody deserves to go through the humiliation Justice Kavanaugh was forced to endure. However, given the Court's potential and dramatic shift to the right, this appears to be inevitable.  The president and congressional Republicans will need to stand strong together should another vacancy occur in the nation's highest court.  If history is any indicator, filling that vacancy will likely be a long, arduous, and difficult process.

Mr. Hakim is a political writer and commentator and an attorney.  His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, The Western Journal, American Thinker, and other online publications.  

https://thoughtfullyconservative.wordpress.com

Twitter: @ThoughtfulGOP