A Supreme Court vacancy is the president’s primary lever for moving the Court

Evidence

To succeed Justice O’Connor, President Bush nominated John Roberts, whom he had appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2003. Judge Roberts had a distinguished background: undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University, a year as a law clerk to Chief Justice Rehnquist, service in the office of White House counsel during the Reagan administration, success as a litigator for the Federal Government before the Supreme Court, and experience with a private law firm. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 362

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Judicial merit is necessary but never decisive in federal appointments. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 460; Judicial appointments extend presidential influence far beyond a term — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 511; Constitutional design gives the president and Senate shared federal judicial appointment power — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 646 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Constitutional design gives the president and Senate shared federal judicial appointment power #expands (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 646
• Trump could fill nearly a fifth of the federal judiciary through vacancies #exemplifies (0.72) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 901