The nine current Supreme Court justices are Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Federal law fixes the court’s size at one chief justice and eight associate justices, with any six forming a quorum. The bench currently divides into a six-justice conservative majority and a three-justice liberal bloc, a balance that shapes nearly every major ruling.
The Chief Justice
John G. Roberts Jr. has served as Chief Justice since September 29, 2005, making him the 17th person to hold the position. President George W. Bush originally nominated Roberts to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, but after Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, Bush withdrew that nomination and put Roberts forward for the top seat instead. The Senate confirmed him by a 78–22 vote.
The Chief Justice’s role reaches beyond casting a single vote. Roberts presides over oral arguments, leads the private conferences where the justices discuss and vote on cases, and chairs the Judicial Conference of the United States, which sets policy for the entire federal court system. When he votes with the majority, he decides who writes the court’s opinion. If he sits with the minority, that assignment power passes to the most senior justice in the majority. Roberts also appoints all eleven judges who sit on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, drawing them from at least seven judicial circuits.
The Conservative-Leaning Associate Justices
Five associate justices generally align with the court’s conservative majority.
Clarence Thomas
Thomas is the longest-serving current justice by a wide margin. Born in 1948, he joined the court on October 23, 1991, after nomination by President George H.W. Bush. Before that, he served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and led the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for eight years. Thomas is known as one of the court’s most committed originalists and frequently writes or joins opinions that call for reconsidering past precedent.
Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Alito was confirmed on January 31, 2006, after President George W. Bush nominated him. He spent fifteen years on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and previously worked as a federal prosecutor and attorney in the Department of Justice. He tends to align closely with Thomas on many issues, particularly in cases involving executive power and criminal law.
Neil M. Gorsuch
Gorsuch took his seat on April 10, 2017, nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. He spent a decade on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, where he built a reputation for crisp, textualist opinions focused on the plain meaning of statutes rather than legislative history.
Brett M. Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh was confirmed in October 2018, also nominated by President Trump. He served twelve years on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where he handled a heavy docket of cases involving federal agencies and regulatory power. Before joining the bench, he worked in the White House Counsel’s office.
Amy Coney Barrett
Barrett joined the court on October 27, 2020, the third justice nominated by President Trump during his first term. She served on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and spent years as a law professor at Notre Dame, specializing in constitutional law and statutory interpretation.
The Liberal-Leaning Associate Justices
Three associate justices make up the court’s liberal bloc.
Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor was confirmed on August 6, 2009, nominated by President Barack Obama. She served on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for over a decade and before that sat as a trial judge in the Southern District of New York, one of the busiest federal courts in the country. She is the first Hispanic justice in the court’s history.
Elena Kagan
Kagan joined the court on August 7, 2010, also nominated by President Obama. Her path was unusual: she never served as a judge before her appointment. She was the Solicitor General of the United States, arguing cases before the very court she would join, and before that served as the dean of Harvard Law School. That executive-branch background gives her a distinctive perspective on how government agencies operate.
Ketanji Brown Jackson
Jackson is the newest justice, taking her seat on June 30, 2022, after nomination by President Joe Biden. She became the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Her career included time on the D.C. Circuit, eight years as a federal district judge, two years as an assistant federal public defender, and service on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
How the Bench Is Balanced
Six of the nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents, and three by Democratic presidents. That 6–3 split is the practical shape of most closely watched decisions, though voting alignments shift case by case. Each associate justice carries an equal vote and a full caseload, and the Chief Justice votes as one of nine on the merits of any case. Under an internal practice known as the Rule of Four, at least four justices must vote to hear a case before the court grants review, which means neither ideological bloc alone controls what reaches the merits docket.
What the Justices Are Paid
For 2026, the Chief Justice earns an annual salary of $320,700, and each associate justice earns $306,600. These figures are set by federal statute and adjusted periodically. Justices also receive the same benefits available to other federal employees, including a pension that pays their full salary if they meet the age and service requirements for retirement.
How Long They Serve
Article III of the Constitution grants federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, the right to hold their seats “during good behavior.” In practice, that means life tenure. There is no term limit and no mandatory retirement age, so the current nine will remain on the bench until they choose to retire, die in office, or are removed through impeachment and conviction. No Supreme Court justice has ever been removed by impeachment, though Justice Samuel Chase was impeached by the House in 1804 and acquitted by the Senate in 1805. Until a seat opens, the roster above is the court.