On The Bench: Week April 20, 2023

The Senate returned from recess this week yet continued to make limited progress on judicial nominations. As of this writing, there have been no confirmations. With the results of this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up, there are now 25 Article III nominees pending on the Senate floor.

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for 3 Article III nominees: Jeremy Daniel (N.D. Ill.), Magistrate Judge Brendan Hurson (D. Md.), and Darrel Papillion (E.D. La.). These nominees are now eligible for a full committee vote.

On Thursday, the Committee held a mark-up where they successfully voted 7 Article III nominees out of committee and to the floor. The nominees were: Judge Jeffrey Cummings (N.D. Ill.), Judge LaShonda Hunt (N.D. Ill.), Judge Wesley Hsu (C.D. Cal.), Orelia Merchant (E.D.N.Y.), Michael Farbiarz (D.N.J.), Judge Robert Kirsch (D.N.J.), and Mónica Ramírez Almadani (C.D. Cal.). All seven are now eligible for a cloture and confirmation vote on the Senate floor.

Late last week, the White House announced the next slate of judicial nominees. The slate contained two nominations for the circuit courts: Judge Ana de Alba (9th Cir.) and Judge Irma Ramirez (5th Cir.). If confirmed, Judge Ramirez would be the only active Latinx judge on the Fifth Circuit.

As of April 20, there are 102 Article III vacancies, 75 of which are current. There are 38 pending nominees: 25 waiting for floor votes, 8 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 5 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 119 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.