Author: Maude Carroll

The Senate continued to make substantial progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the has Senate confirmed 5 Article III nominees: Justice Maria Kahn (2d Cir.) in a 51-42 vote, Magistrate Judge Robert Ballou (W.D. Va.) in a 59-37 vote, Arun Subramanian (S.D.N.Y.) in a 59-37 vote, Judge James Simmons Jr. (S.D. Cal.) in a 51-43 vote, and Magistrate Judge Andrew Schopler (S.D. Cal.) in a 56-39 vote. Despite this progress, there are still 21 nominees who are awaiting action on the Senate floor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held an executive business meeting this week. The Committee was set to vote on several candidates, but they were unable to due to Senator Feinstein’s continued absence. At the meeting, the Committee advanced only 1 nominee: Magistrate Judge Matthew Brookman (S.D. Ind.). Brookman is now eligible for cloture and confirmation votes.

Judge Marco Hernandez (D. Or.) announced his intention to take senior status in August 2024. This will be the only current or known future vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

As of March 9, there are 98 Article III vacancies, 75 of which are current. There are 35 pending nominees: 21 waiting for floor votes, 10 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 4 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 116 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

The Senate made good progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate confirmed 6 Article III nominees: Jamar Walker (E.D. Va.) in a 52-41 vote, Margaret Guzman (D. Mass.) in a 49-48 vote, Jamal Whitehead (W.D. Wash.) in a 51-43 vote, Araceli Martinez-Olguin (N.D. Cal.) in a 49-48 vote, Judge Colleen Lawless (C.D. Ill.) in a 51-41 vote, and Magistrate Judge Jonathan Grey (E.D. Mich.) in a 49-42 vote. These confirmations continue the trend under the Biden-Harris Administration of diversifying the federal bench, as a majority of them are people of color.

The Senate also invoked cloture on 2 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Gordon Gallagher (D. Colo.) and Judge James Simmons Jr. (S.D. Cal.). Their confirmation votes could come as soon as next week.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to have an executive business meeting this week, where it was set to vote on several judicial nominees. The meeting, however, was cancelled.

As of March 2, there are 102 Article III vacancies, 79 of which are current. There are 40 pending nominees: 25 waiting for floor votes, 11 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 4 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 111 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

With the Senate on recess this week, there was no progress on judicial nominations. When the Senate returns on Monday, it is set to take a cloture vote for Jamar Walker (E.D. Va.). This sets up the first of several potential confirmations next week.

The White House announced the next slate of judicial nominees this week. The slate had two Article III nominees: Jabari Wamble (D. Kan.) and Magistrate Judge Kato Crews (D. Colo.). Wamble had previously been nominated to the Tenth Circuit in the last Congress.

As of February 23, there are 108 Article III vacancies, 83 of which are current. Once the new nominees are officially nominated, there will be 46 pending nominees: 31 waiting for floor votes, 11 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 4 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 105 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.