The Supreme Court Vacancy *Still* Has to be Filled
The Supreme Court has had a vacancy since Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. Obama's nominee for the spot, Merrick Garland, has been stalled by the Republican-controlled Senate since March, which is an unprecedented delay. Garland now holds the unfortunate title of the longest-pending Supreme Court nominee in history, ABC News reports.
President-elect Trump will be tasked with filling the Supreme Court vacancy in 2017 and will likely pick from the list of 21 conservative potential nominees he released, according to NPR. In addition, Trump will inherit 103 judicial vacancies from Obama when he takes office in January, which is an uncommonly high number, the Washington Post reports.
What does this all mean? Well, Trump will be able to reshape the judiciary system with his conservative appointments starting in 2017, most notably as he fills Scalia's long-vacant seat on the Supreme Court.