A Supreme Court nominee hasn't been denied a hearing since 1875

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Historical resistance on SCOTUS pick.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Every Supreme Court nominee since 1875 has received a Senate hearing or vote — a little piece of trivia that the White House would very much like to point out.

While announcing Merrick Garland as his nominee for the vacancy left after Justice Antonin Scalia's passing, President Obama made a point of stressing that he expects the Senate to give his nominee a chance. However, many Senate Republicans believe in denying Obama's pick a hearing on principle.

To further promote Obama's nominee, the White House has launched a Twitter account "SCOTUS Nomination," which is tweeting trivia both about the nominee himself as well as the process of picking a Supreme Court justice.

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The social media bombardment is unlikely to change any minds: Senate Republicans probably aren't too likely to follow the account.

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Jeva Lange
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.