On The Bench: Week of October 19, 2023

After returning from its brief recess, the Senate made limited progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate confirmed 2 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Jennifer Hall (D. Del.) in a 67-29 vote; and Judge Julia Munley (M.D. Pa.) in a 52-45 vote. After these confirmations, there are still 22 Article III nominees on the Senate floor awaiting cloture and confirmation votes.

On Wednesday, the White House released the next slate of judicial nominees. The slate had 2 Article III nominees: Sara Hill (N.D. Okla.) and John Russell (N.D. Okla.). If confirmed, Hill would be the would be the only actively serving Native American federal judge in Oklahoma.

As of October 19, there are 94 Article III vacancies, 67 of which are current. Once the new nominees are officially nominated, there will be 36 pending nominees: 22 waiting for floor votes, 6 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 8 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 147 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.