Judicial Confirmation Hearings

From Prof. Heriot at Right Coast:

...Supreme Court nominations didn’t used to take so long. As recently as the 1920s, it was still possible for a member of the Supreme Court to resign on a Monday, the President to nominate his successor on a Tuesday, and the Senate to confirm the nominee later that afternoon...

Part of the reason for the change is the Senate hearing itself. It was not until 1925 when the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held its first hearing on a Supreme Court nominee. And it was not until the 1950s that hearings became routine–perhaps not coincidently around the same time many Americans were buying their first television set. When Harry Truman nominated Sherman Minton in 1949, Minton actually refused to appear before the Senate committee. He considered it undignified and unnecessary given his record of judicial service. The Senate confirmed him anyway.

Senators - media whores?? No kidding.....