Category: Judicial Nominations

The Senate made no progress on judicial confirmations this week. The Senate is now scheduled to be out until the evening of June 11. At this time, there have been no cloture motions filed on any Article III nominees.

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for 4 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Embry Kidd (11th Cir.), Magistrate Judge Adam Abelson (D. Md.), Magistrate Judge Joseph Saporito Jr. (M.D. Pa.), and Judge Meredith Vacca (W.D.N.Y.). The nominees are now eligible for a full committee vote. If confirmed, Judge Vacca would be the first ever person of color to serve as a federal judge on the Western District of New York.

As of June 6, there are 69 Article III vacancies, 45 of which are current. Once the latest nominees are officially nominated, there will be 27 pending nominees: 10 waiting for floor votes, 9 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 8 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 201 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

The Senate made no progress on judicial nominations this week as they were on recess for the Memorial Day holiday. Before the break Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on a few judicial nominees for local Washington D.C. courts, but he did not file cloture on any Article III nominees.

Next week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Wednesday. Nominees for the hearing are not yet listed, but it is likely that the hearing will feature some of the recently announced judicial nominees.

As of May 30, there are 68 Article III vacancies, 43 of which are current. Once the latest nominees are officially nominated, there will be 27 pending nominees: 10 waiting for floor votes, 5 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 12 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 201 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

The Senate made encouraging progress on judicial nominations this week with 4 Article III confirmations. The 4 confirmations were: Seth Aframe (1st Cir.), Kriss Lanham (D. Ariz.), Magistrate Judge Angela Martinez (D. Ariz.), and Judge Dena Coggins (E.D. Cal.). With these confirmations the Senate confirmed the 200th Article III nominee during the Biden Administration. This puts the Biden Administration ahead of its predecessor which did not reach that milestone until June 24, 2020. For more on this achievement, see ACS’s statement here.

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for 5 Article III nominees: Judge Michelle Williams Court (C.D. Cal.), Judge Anne Hwang (C.D. Cal.), Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn (S.D.N.Y.), Stacey Neumann (D. Me.), and Judge Cynthia Valenzuela (C.D. Cal.). All five nominees are now eligible for a committee vote.

On Thursday, the White House announced the next slate of 4 Article III nominees: Karla Campbell (6th Cir.), Justice Julia Lipez (1st Cir.), Catherine Henry (E.D. Pa.), and Mary Kay Lanthier (D. Vt.). This slate continues the White House’s trend of trying to bring more professional diversity to the federal judiciary.

As of May 23, there are 67 Article III vacancies, 42 of which are current. Once the latest nominees are officially nominated, there will be 27 pending nominees: 10 waiting for floor votes, 5 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 12 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 201 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

The Senate made some progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate confirmed 3 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara (E.D.N.Y.), Eric Schulte (D.S.D.), and Judge Camela Theeler (D.S.D.). In addition to these confirmations, the Senate invoked cloture on Seth Aframe (1st Cir.), setting up a potential confirmation vote as soon as next week.

As of May 16, there are 70 Article III vacancies, 43 of which are current. Once the latest nominees are officially nominated, there will be 27 pending nominees: 14 waiting for floor votes, 0 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 13 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 197 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

The Senate continued to work on FAA legislation, meaning little progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate has not confirmed any Article III nominees. However, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on 2 Article III nominees: Eric Schulte (D.S.D.), and Judge Camela Theeler (D.S.D.), setting up potential votes later this week or early next week.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held an executive business meeting for 4 Article III nominees: Kevin Ritz (6th Cir.), Brian Murphy (D. Mass.), Judge Rebecca Pennell (E.D. Wash.), and Jeannette Vargas (S.D.N.Y.). All the nominees advanced out of committee to the Senate floor and are now eligible for cloture and confirmation votes.

Also this week, the White House announced the latest slate of judicial nominees. The slate had 4 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Embry Kidd (11th Cir.), Magistrate Judge Adam Abelson (D. Md.), Magistrate Judge Joseph Saporito Jr. (M.D. Pa.), and Judge Meredith Vacca (W.D.N.Y.). If confirmed, Judge Vacca would be the first ever person of color to serve as a federal judge on the Western District of New York.

As of May 9, there are 73 Article III vacancies, 45 of which are current. Once the latest nominees are officially nominated, there will be 30 pending nominees: 17 waiting for floor votes, 0 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 13 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 194 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

In other judiciary news, ACS is happy to announce a new resource in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ Bar. The LGBTQ+ Bar has launched a new website that tracks the number of openly LGBTQ+ Article III judges. The website will be updated to reflect the changing demographics of our federal judiciary.

Largely due to the Senate prioritizing legislation, there was limited progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate confirmed 1 Article III nominee: Georgia Alexakis (N.D. Ill.). There is still the potential for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to file cloture on judicial nominees this week, setting up votes for next week.

With the confirmation of Alexakis, the Biden Administration for the time being has moved ahead of its predecessor in terms of pace of confirmations. As of May 2 of the fourth year, the Biden Administration is at 194 Article III confirmations, while the Trump Administration was at 193 Article III confirmations. By the end of four years, the Trump Administration reached 234 Article III confirmations.

As of May 2, there are 72 Article III vacancies, 43 of which are current. Once the latest nominees are officially nominated, there will be 26 pending nominees: 13 waiting for floor votes, 4 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 9 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 194 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.