Supreme Court justices attended Trump's address to Congress: Who was there?
At least four Supreme Court justices attended President Donald Trump's first joint Congressional address Tuesday of his second White House term.
Two of those justices were among the three whose seats Trump appointed during his president term. Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, appointed by former Republican president Ronald Reagan in 1988, is also in attendance.
The appearance of the four justice attendees comes as the court serves as the final arbiter of the dozens of legal challenges mounted against Trump’s blizzard of early actions. Trump, who has expressed confidence that the court will back him, is pushing the boundaries on past court decisions on executive authority and is explicitly trying to get some overturned.
Comments that some in the administration have made criticizing judges have raised fears that the president may refuse to comply with decisions he opposes – something his spokeswoman has dismissed as “fearmongering.”
Here are the Supreme Court justices that are in attendance and those that aren't.
Which Supreme Court justices attended Trump's address?
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all attended the president's joint address to Congress Tuesday night.
Which Supreme Court justices did not attend Trump's address?
Supreme Court associate justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Sonia Sotomayor and Neil M. Gorsuch were not present Tuesday at the joint Congressional address.
Which Supreme Court justices did Trump appoint?
President Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices during his first administration: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Why isn't Trump's address called the State of the Union?
Trump's speech will not be an official State of the Union address because he was sworn into office less than two months ago.
Starting with former President Ronald Reagan, several recent presidents have delivered speeches in the months after being inaugurated that serve the same purpose as the State of the Union, even without formally being one, according to the American Presidency Project, a nonprofit and non-partisan website created and managed by the University of California in 1999.
In 1981, Reagan’s address to Congress was called the "Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Program for Economic Recovery." Bush and Clinton both gave "Administration Goal" speeches, respectively, in 1989 and 1993.
So far, there have been seven occasions where new presidents have delivered an “unofficial" address, according to the American Presidency Project.
- Ronald Regan (Republican) - 1981
- George H.W. Bush (Republican) - 1989
- Bill Clinton - (Democrat) 1993
- George W. Bush - (Republican) 2001
- Barack Obama - (Democrat) 2009
- Donald Trump - (Republican ) 2017
- Joe Biden - (Democrat) 2021
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund