how many votes to approve supreme court justice
A simple majority vote A simple majority
title: Presidency of Donald Trump text: April 7, 2017, in a 54–45 vote. Prior to this nomination, the support of three-fifths of the Senate had effectively been required for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominees due to the Senate filibuster. However, the Senate's Republican majority changed the rules for the filibuster via the so-called "nuclear option," and the confirmation of Supreme Court justices now requires only a simple majority vote. In June 2018, Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, widely considered to be the key swing vote on the Supreme Court, announced his retirement. On July 9, 2018, Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, a judge on the D.C. Circuit title: Appointment and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States text: President to formally appoint the candidate to the court. Senate cloture rules historically required a two-thirds affirmative vote to advance nominations to a vote; this was changed to a three-fifths supermajority in 1975. In November 2013, the then-Democratic Senate majority eliminated the filibuster for executive branch nominees and judicial nominees "except" for Supreme Court nominees by invoking the so-called nuclear option. In April 2017, the Republican Senate majority applied the nuclear option to Supreme Court nominations as well, enabling the nominations of Trump nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to proceed to a vote. Article Two of the United States title: Supreme Court of the United States text: or receive official endorsements from political parties, as is accepted practice in the legislative and executive branches. Jurists are, however, informally categorized in legal and political circles as being judicial conservatives, moderates, or liberals. Such leanings, however, generally refer to legal outlook rather than a political or legislative one. The nominations of justices are endorsed by individual politicians in the legislative branch who vote their approval or disapproval of the nominated justice. Following the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch in 2017, and prior to Anthony Kennedy's retirement in July 2018, the Court consisted of five justices appointed by Republican presidents and title: John Roberts Supreme Court nomination text: written questions to Roberts, which were to be answered by him as thoroughly as practicable. On September 22, the committee voted 13–5 to send Roberts's confirmation to the full Senate. Senators Biden, Durbin, Feinstein, Kennedy, and Schumer were the five "no" voters. The full 100-member Senate subsequently debated Roberts' nomination, beginning on September 26. The Senate voted on the nomination beginning at 11:30 a.m. EDT on September 29, with Roberts winning confirmation by a 78–22 vote. All 55 Republicans voted to confirm Roberts; 22 Democrats, including Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy of Vermont, also voted to confirm Roberts, title: Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination text: of Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voting Nay, and Joe Manchin (D-WV) voting Yea. The motion limited debate to an additional 30 hours and then proceeding to the final vote on the following day. As with Trump's first Supreme Court appointee, Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh's cloture was enabled by a rule change made by the Senate Republican majority in April 2017, via the nuclear option, which allowed nominations to be advanced by a simple majority vote rather than the historical norm of a supermajority vote of 3/5+ those "duly chosen and sworn". The full Senate vote on the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh took