Controversy about Louis D. Brandeis was so heated that the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time held public hearings to consider a Supreme Court nominee. After months of testimony and debate, the Senate confirmed Brandeis as associate justice with a vote of 47–22.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
Senate Resolution to Advise and Consent to the Appointment of Louis D. Brandeis to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, June 1, 1916
The Senate Approves Justice Louis D. Brandeis
Many in Congress opposed President Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 nomination of attorney Louis D. Brandeis to the Supreme Court. Brandeis, the first Jewish nominee to the high court, was a controversial figure known as the “people’s lawyer.” He challenged monopolies, criticized investment banks, and advocated for workers’ rights and protection of civil liberties. While some prominent individuals implicitly opposed Brandeis’s nomination on religious grounds, in Senate hearings, opposition focused on Brandeis’s anti-corporate record. After vehement debate, the Senate voted to confirm Brandeis’s nomination.
"When Brandeis's nomination came in yesterday, the Senate simply gasped. Today some of the Senators are coming up for air and trying to take stock."
Gus J. Karger, Letter to William Howard Taft, January 29, 1916, Woodrow Wilson Papers
Controversy about Louis D. Brandeis was so heated that the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time held public hearings to consider a Supreme Court nominee. After months of testimony and debate, the Senate confirmed Brandeis as associate justice with a vote of 47–22.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
