ONE CONSEQUENCE of the shift of Senate control to the Republicans may be to nudge a Justice or two towards retirement. It’s about time we had a vacancy. The last was in 1994, when Harry Blackmun stepped down and his seat was taken by Stephen Breyer. More than eight years have passed–the second longest period without a vacancy since the early nineteenth century. So far history has blanked George W. Bush–he hasn’t had a single opportunity to name a Justice. The only president ever to serve one full term and not appoint a Justice was Jimmy Carter. That’s a record Bush would not like to tie.
Whether Bush has a High Court vacancy to fill is not up to him, of course. It’s a matter for each Justice to decide. But there’s good reason to think that the election results might move Chief Justice William Rehnquist to retire.
