Every so often, a president may get to nominate a new Supreme Court justice. The process has become highly political due to precedents set by Sen. Majority Leader McConnell and nominations of partisan ideologues by President Trump in order to swing the court into a massive conservative majority.

National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation Magazine John Nichols joined AWF Union Podcast to discuss the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and why term limits for justices are viable.

Supreme Court Nomination

With yet another President Trump Supreme Court nomination comes another round of heated Senate confirmation hearings.

Nichols said the Supreme Court nomination process is way too quick and rushed for lifetime appointments. He said that there has only been about five minutes of discussion during this round of hearings on labor decisions.

He added that Judge Barrett is very young and can shape labor law for the next 50 years.

Nichols said when prompted to discuss past labor related decisions, Judge Barrett offered no answers and avoided most questions about labor.

Term limits for Supreme Court justices

Nichols said it is up for debate whether Supreme Court justices can be set to term limits. He said that since it is not in the Constitution, it would not require an amendment to change.

Nichols cited a plan by U.S. Representative Ro Khanna to limit justices to 18-year terms. Once their term is up, they can return to lower courts and continue working.

Nichols said term limits would remove the hyper-partisanship from the confirmation process. Additionally it would take pressure off of a justice to decide when to retire based on who is president.

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