Three Supreme Court justices skipped out on Thursday’s State of the Union address, the fourth and final one of President Joe Biden’s term in office.
That has been a term in which Biden has been critical of the conservatives serving on the court — a court he threatened to pack with new justices before the 2020 election.
As the country’s top legal minds entered into the U.S. House chamber on Thursday evening in Washington, Chief Justice John Roberts appeared friendly with the three court liberals — Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh were also in attendance.
However, conservative Associate Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas were absent.
The Supreme Court justices arrive in the House chamber ahead of Pres. Biden’s State of the Union address. #SOTU2024 https://t.co/ocMhOjhBIu pic.twitter.com/BSL60g2qI6
— ABC News (@ABC) March 8, 2024
No reason was given for the absences but it is not required for those who sit on the court to attend the annual speech.
But many who watched Biden’s remarks noticed the absences:
Do you think all the justices should have attended?
Yes: 5% (10 Votes)
No: 95% (177 Votes)
Supreme Court justices here in the chamber for Joe Biden’s State of the Union:
Roberts
Gorsuch
Kagan
Sotomayor
Brown Jackson
KavanaughAlso here: Kennedy (retired)
Sitting justices NOT here:
Thomas
Alito
Barrett— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 8, 2024
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have ZERO interest in hearing from Joe Biden. They both decided to stay home instead of hearing that old guy scream pic.twitter.com/6tD5yUZwzk
— George (@BehizyTweets) March 8, 2024
Justices Thomas, Alito, and Barrett are NOT attending the State of the Union tonight.
— DW Fan (@daily_wire_fan) March 8, 2024
Six of the nine Supreme Court justices are in the chamber tonight. All three liberal justices are present. Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are not in attendance.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 8, 2024
Biden criticized the court during a charged moment of his speech and attacked those who voted in favor of overturning Roe. v Wade in 2022, handing the issue of abortion back to individual states.
Joe Biden THREATENS the Supreme Court:
“With all due respect, Justices, Women are not without electrical power! Excuse me, electoral or political power. You’re about to realize just how much you’re…”#SOTU pic.twitter.com/KkZqS7OqI6
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 8, 2024
“With all due respect, justices, women are not without electrical power,” Biden said while addressing those on the Supreme Court who were present.
He also appeared to threaten them when he said, “Excuse me, electoral or political power. You’re about to realize just how much …”
As NBC News noted, it is irregular to have a president speak directly to members of the court during the State of the Union.
In 2010, Alito was present when then-President Barack Obama slammed the court for its ruling on Citizens United and accused the justices of allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in politics.
In response, Alito mouthed the words, “Simply not true.”
