Hmm i sort of agree the president maybe shouldnt be the one appointing judges but im not sure what the alternative should be.
I think we can make the SCOTUS less political by changing the lifetime tenure provision. If Justices were required to rotate out of the court, then there is less possibility of a justice "hanging on" until they get the Presidential/Senate combination they feel more aligned with for political reasons. If vacancies were to occur on a more regular basis it would be a more routine process.
I'm not so much in favor of an upper age limit though as it will then become the ploy to just nominate younger and younger individuals to be on the SCOTUS so they can be there longer. I'm more in favor of limiting the number of years of SCOTUS serve.
So...
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Amend the US Constitution concerning SCOTUS tenure.
1. The senior Justice with 20 years of service on the SCOTUS will face mandatory retirement the year following a Presidential election cycle and each subsequent year which does not contain a Presidential election cycle on June 30th. This will include Chief and Associate Justices. If a new Justice has not been confirmed by October 1st of the same year, then the Chief Justice shall have the discretion of reactivating a retired Justice in accordance with paragraph #2. A Chief Justice cannot face mandatory retirement with less than five years in that role, however the next senior Associate Justice with a minimum of 20 years of service will then be required to retire. Only one Justice per year may be mandatorily retired. If two or more Justices qualify in any year, only the senior is required to retire.
2. In the event of death, incapacity, voluntary retirement prior to 20 years of service or vacancy, the Chief Justice can provide for temporary reinstatement of a retired Supreme Court Justice for a non-renewable period of one year or one term, whichever is greater. Once the period has expired, there is no extension. In the event of death or incapacity of the Chief Justice, the senior Associate Justice becomes the Chief Justice pending Senate consent of a new nominee. Requests for reinstatement must be made in the reverse order of retirement with the most recent retiree being solicited first. If that individual declines the request, the next most recent retiree is solicited. In the event there are no retired Justices available or none accept reinstatement, the court will revert to rules pertaining to an even number of Justices. The reinstatement of a temporary Justice ends when the incapacity or vacancy ends.
3. The Senate is required to advise and consent on Presidential nominations to the Supreme Court, if vacancy has been created for any reason, after 120 days from the official date of nomination there has not been a confirmation vote made available to a quorum of Senators in whole, then the nominee will be deemed consented to by the Senate and confirmed due to inaction.
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Just my thoughts, these and $5.00 will get you a coffee at a Starbucks.
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WW