<P> In modern times, the confirmation process has attracted considerable attention from special - interest groups, many of which lobby senators to confirm or to reject a nominee, depending on whether the nominee's track record aligns with the group's views . The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts hearings, questioning nominees to determine their suitability . By convention, nominees avoid revealing too much about their views on potential cases that may come before the Court . At the close of confirmation hearings, the Committee votes on whether the nomination should go to the full Senate with a positive, negative or neutral report . </P> <P> The Committee's practice of personally interviewing nominees is relatively recent, beginning with Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925 . Some western senators were concerned with his links to Wall Street and expressed their opposition when Stone was nominated . Stone proposed what was then the novelty of appearing before the Judiciary Committee to answer questions; his testimony helped secure a confirmation vote with very little opposition . The second nominee to appear before the Committee was Felix Frankfurter, who only addressed (at the Committee's request) what he considered to be slanderous allegations against him . The modern practice of the Committee questioning nominees on their judicial views began with the nomination of John Marshall Harlan II in 1955; the nomination came shortly after the Court handed down the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, and several Southern senators attempted to block Harlan's confirmation, hence the decision to testify . </P> <P> Once the Committee reports out the nomination, the whole Senate considers it . A simple majority vote is required to confirm or to reject a nominee . Prior to 2017, a successful filibuster threat could add the requirement of a supermajority of 60 needed in favor of cloture, which would allow debate to end and force a final vote on confirmation . Rejections are relatively uncommon; the Senate has explicitly rejected twelve Supreme Court nominees in its history . The most recent rejection of a nominee by vote of the full Senate came in 1987, when the Senate refused to confirm Robert Bork . </P> <P> Not everyone nominated by the President has received a floor vote in the Senate . Prior to 2017 a nominee could be filibustered once debate on the nomination had begun in the full Senate . A filibuster indefinitely prolongs the debate, preventing a final vote on the nominee . President Lyndon Johnson's nomination of sitting Associate Justice Abe Fortas to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice in 1968 was the first successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee . It included both Republican and Democratic senators concerned with Fortas's ethics . President Donald Trump's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the seat vacated by Antonin Scalia was the second . Unlike the Fortas filibuster, however, only Democratic Senators voted against cloture on the Gorsuch nomination, citing his perceived conservative judicial philosophy, and the Republican majority's prior refusal to take up Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy . This led the Republican majority to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations . </P>

How many votes needed to confirm a supreme court justice