Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates

President Barack Obama made two successful appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States. The first was Judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice David H. Souter. Sotomayor was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 6, 2009, by a vote of 68–31. The second appointment was that of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace the retired John Paul Stevens. Kagan was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 5, 2010, by a vote of 63–37.

During his final year in office, Obama had an opportunity to fill a third Supreme Court vacancy, following the February 13, 2016, death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. On March 16, 2016, he nominated Merrick Garland, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the Court. However, Republican leaders in the Senate announced that they planned to withhold voting on any potential nominee until a new president was elected. Senate Democrats responded that there was sufficient time to vote on a nominee before the election. Consequently, no action was taken on the nomination, which expired in January 2017.

During most of Obama's presidency, there had been speculation about the potential retirement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who turned 80 in 2013 and was previously diagnosed with colon cancer and pancreatic cancer.

During the 109th Congress, then-Senator Obama voted against both of President George W. Bush's nominees to the Supreme Court. In a speech announcing his opposition to John Roberts, Obama stated:

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