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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

Do Supreme Court judges usually recuse themselves from cases relating to the president who nominated them?

By Allegra Taylor
NO

Supreme Court justices have not typically recused themselves from cases simply because they involve the president who appointed them. The due process clause of the Constitution requires judges to sit out a case when there is a clear conflict of interest, specifically when financial interests are involved or when there is strong potential bias.

Justice Elena Kagan, who had been involved in a range of matters as President Obama's Solicitor General before her 2010 appointment, sat out 28 of 78 cases during her first year on the court. In 1974, in United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court decided unanimously against President Nixon. Nixon had appointed Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justices Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell Jr. and William Rehnquist. Of the four, only Rehnquist removed himself from the case on the grounds that he had previously held a role in the Nixon administration.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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