On The Bench: Week June 15, 2023

The Senate made significant progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, there have been 4 Article III confirmations: Dale Ho (S.D.N.Y.) in a 50-49 vote, Judge Hernán Vera (C.D. Cal.) in a 51-48 vote, Nusrat Choudhury (E.D.N.Y.) in a 50-49 vote, and P. Casey Pitts (N.D. Cal.) in a 53-46 vote. Several of these nominees had been pending for well over a year, marking a potential breakthrough in the backlog of nominees on the Senate floor.

The Senate also invoked cloture on Julie Rikelman (1st Cir.), setting up a potential confirmation vote as early as next week.

As of June 15, there are 89 Article III vacancies, 72 of which are current. There are 27 pending nominees: 19 waiting for floor votes, 4 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 4 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 134 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

In other judiciary news, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights held a hearing on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023. The hearing primarily focused on the new recusal standards outlined in the proposed legislation.