Omaha, NE. — Longtime Supreme Court Justice Warren Buffett has died in his sleep according to the Omaha, Nebraska police department. Justice Buffett, who was appointed and approved under the first Bush Administration in 1989, has a long history of moderate and “tie-breaking” decisions on the Nation’s most important court. His death, which comes after the suspicious passing of Justice Antonin Scalia’s untimely death, further puts pressure on both President Biden and the Senate to appoint a successor.
“It is with great sadness that we announce Justice Buffett’s passing,” said family lawyer Donald Felder reading from a prepared statement. “A voice of moderate liberty has left us, as well as a husband and father. He was a true American great.”
On November 11, 1988, Justice Buffett was nominated to the Supreme Court seat that had been vacated by Lewis F. Powell, Jr. His nomination came after Reagan’s failed nominations of Robert Bork, who was rejected by the Senate, and Douglas Ginsburg, who withdrew his name from consideration after admitting to marijuana use. The nomination continued past President Reagan’s last year in office and into President Bush’s first and only term, making it the longest Supreme Court vacancy in United States history.
The new vacancy, which is the second in less than a week, restored an uneven number to the Nation’s highest bench. As one might expect, opinions on this are divided down partisan lines.
“We need to move quickly to get two justices confirmed,” said Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who sits on the Judiciary Committee, which would consider any nomination. “I suspect that probably means multiple and simultaneous hearings. I’m going to propose creating a second Judiciary Committee to handle this load. And now that we’re back to an odd number, there’s even more reason for Republicans to take action. Besides, there haven’t always been nine justices on the court. So we might want to even up this number to 11 or 13.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts cautioned both President Biden and the Senate.
“The sudden death of Justice Buffett creates an immediate vacancy on the most important court in the United States,” said Senator Warren on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. “Senator McConnell is right that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice., but President should not. We should keep the number of justices at seven.”
Although there are many conspiracy theories circulating around the Internet surrounding the surprise death of Antonin Scalia, Warren Buffett’s passing seems to have none of the same controversies around it.
“Justice Buffett was a voice of moderation on the court,” said Professor James Badwater of the University of Chicago. “He wasn’t the decisive figure that Scalia was. So conservative conspiracy theorists have expected Scalia to die of suspicious circumstances for almost 20 years. Imagine the paranoia building up during that time. However with Buffett, due to his moderate positions, they barely even noticed his passing.”
According to President Biden’s Press Secretary, other than the recent Neil Gorsuch nomination, the President has not made a final decision on any additional appointments to the Supreme court.
