There are notable outliers, but the process from nomination to confirmation is generally quick for Supreme Court justices, The Times explains In the United States' early days, the decision was remarkably quick — the first time the process from nomination to confirmation took more than 10 days was during John Quincy Adams' presidency, when he nominated Robert Trimble in 1826 , and the process took 28 days During John Tyler's presidency, the process became more drawn out, though many of Tyler's nominees were rejected, not confirmed. In the last 30 years, however, the average amount of time from nomination to decision has increased to 71.6 days. Still, plenty of Supreme Court nominees have been confirmed fewer than 50 days after their nominations. And that's not just in the early days, either — for example, when Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor in August 1981, she was confirmed just 33 days later.