With the impending nomination and confirmation process for a new Justice, I want to call attention to one of the most detailed, practical set of recommendations for improving the confirmation process.

As part of the testimony submitted to President Biden’s Supreme Court Commission, on which I served, we received an analysis on improving the confirmation process from Jeffrey J. Peck, who previously served as General Counsel and the Majority Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The proposed changes grew out of his examination
of the history of the Senate’s treatment of Supreme Court nominees over the last several
decades and numerous interviews he conducted with former Senators and senior staff—
thirteen Democrats and twelve Republicans. That group included individuals who had been
involved in seventeen Supreme Court nominations, from 1981 to the present.

This report might well be the most thorough analysis and recommendations for changes to the confirmation process, which are informed by the practical experience of so many Senators and staff involved in the process over the last 40 years. The report can be found here.

As complaints emerge about the process, as they will inevitably, it would be useful to attend to the thoughtful changes recommended in this work that was submitted to the Supreme Court Commission.