Category: Judicial Nominations

On The Bench: Week of February 15, 2024

Posted on by Emil Krawczyk

Earlier this week, the Senate passed the appropriations bill that helped fund aid for foreign countries. After passing the bill, the Senate left for its scheduled recess. The Senate will be out of session until Monday, February 26.

Before leaving for recess, Majority Leader Schumer filed cloture on two judicial nominees: Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra (S.D. Fla.) and David Leibowitz (S.D. Fla.). These nominees are part of the 11 judicial nominees still pending on the Senate floor. The cloture vote on Magistrate Judge Becerra will be the first vote when the Senate returns the evening of the 26th.

As of February 15, there are 85 Article III vacancies, 55 of which are current. There are 26 pending nominees: 11 waiting for floor votes, 10 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 5 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 177 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

On The Bench: Week of February 8, 2024

Posted on by Emil Krawczyk

Due to other legislative priorities, the Senate’s progress on judicial confirmations slowed this week. As of this writing, the Senate has confirmed 2 Article III nominees: Joseph Laroski (Ct. Int’l Trade) and Judge Amy Baggio (D. Or.). After these confirmations, there are still 11 Article III nominees pending on the Senate floor, about half of whom were pending at the end of last year. As of Thursday morning, the Senate is still expected to go on a two week recess starting next week.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for 5 Article III nominees: Amir Ali (D.D.C.), Judge Melissa DuBose (D.R.I.), Magistrate Judge Sunil Harjani (N.D. Ill.), Robert White (E.D. Mich.), and Jasmine Yoon (W.D. Va.). These nominees are all now eligible for a committee vote. If confirmed, Yoon and DuBose would be the first people of color to ever serve as a judge on their respective district courts.

Also this week, the White House announced the latest slate of judicial nominations. The slate contained 4 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara (E.D.N.Y.), Judge Dena Coggins (E.D. Cal.), Eric Schulte (D.S.D.), and Judge Camela Theeler (D.S.D.).

As of February 8, there are 85 Article III vacancies, 54 of which are current. Once the announced nominees are officially nominated, then there will be 26 pending nominees: 11 waiting for floor votes, 10 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 5 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 177 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

On The Bench: Week of February 1, 2024

Posted on by Emil Krawczyk

The Senate continued to make good progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate has confirmed 4 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar (7th Cir.), Kirk Sherriff (E.D. Cal.), Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick (M.D. Pa.), and Lisa Wang (Ct. Int’l Trade). The Senate also invoked cloture on Joseph Laroski (Ct. Int’l Trade), setting up a potential confirmation vote as early as next week.

As of February 1, there are 87 Article III vacancies, 55 of which are current. Once the announced nominees are officially nominated, then there will be 24 pending nominees: 13 waiting for floor votes, 5 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 6 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 175 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

On The Bench: Week of January 26, 2024

Posted on by Maude Carroll

The Senate made encouraging progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate confirmed 3 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Jacquelyn Austin (D.S.C.), Judge Cristal Brisco (N.D. Ind.), and Judge Gretchen Lund (N.D. Ind.). The Senate also invoked cloture on Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar (7th Cir.) and Kirk Sherriff (E.D. Cal.), setting up potential confirmation votes. Once the Senate confirms this group of nominees, there will still be 15 nominees waiting on the Senate floor.

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for 5 Article III nominees: Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen (D. Utah), Magistrate Judge Susan Bazis (D. Neb.), Ernest Gonzalez (W.D. Tex.), Magistrate Judge Kelly Rankin (D. Wyo.), and Magistrate Judge Leon Schydlower (W.D. Tex.). All the nominees are now eligible for a committee vote.

As of January 25, there are 88 Article III vacancies, 58 of which are current. Once the announced nominees are officially nominated, then there will be 28 pending nominees: 17 waiting for floor votes, 5 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 6 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 171 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

On The Bench: Week of January 18, 2024

Posted on by Maude Carroll

Due to working on government funding, the Senate made limited progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, the Senate has not confirmed any judicial nominees.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held an executive business meeting for a large batch of judicial nominees. At the meeting, the Committee voted on nominees who were renominated by the White House earlier this year. In total, the Committee advanced 19 Article III nominees to the floor: Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar (7th Cir.), Nicole Berner (4th Cir.), Adeel Mangi (3d Cir.), Seth Aframe (1st Cir.), Lisa Wang (Ct. Int’l Trade), Joseph Laroski (Ct. Int’l Trade), Judge Amy Baggio (D. Or.), Judge Cristal Brisco (N.D. Ind.), Judge Gretchen Lund (N.D. Ind.), Judge Eumi Lee (N.D. Cal.), Magistrate Judge Mustafa Kasubhai (D. Or.), Magistrate Judge Edward Kiel (D.N.J.), Kirk Sherriff (E.D. Cal.), Sarah Russell (D. Conn.), Magistrate Judge Jacquelyn Austin (D.S.C.), Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra (S.D. Fla.), Magistrate Judge Melissa Damian (S.D. Fla.), David Leibowitz (S.D. Fla.), and Magistrate Judge Julie Sneed (M.D. Fla.).

As of January 18, there are 90 Article III vacancies, 61 of which are current. Once the announced nominees are officially nominated, then there will be 31 pending nominees: 20 waiting for floor votes, 0 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 11 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 168 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

On The Bench: Week of January 11, 2024

Posted on by Maude Carroll

The Senate returned from recess this week and began working on judicial nominations. As of this writing, the Senate has confirmed two of the three candidates that Majority Leader Schumer filed cloture on last month: Magistrate Judge John Kazen (S.D. Tex.) and Magistrate Judge Kato Crews (D. Colo.).

Earlier this week, the White House began the process of renominating judicial candidates. So far, the White House has renominated all but five of the nominees who were pending at the end of the last congressional session. According to media reports, two of the five have withdrawn from consideration and as a result will not be renominated. They are Colleen Holland (W.D.N.Y.) and Charnelle Bjelkengren (E.D. Wash.). The other three nominees did not comment to the media on their status. The White House in a press release did acknowledge the potential for further renominations at a later date.

Also this week, the White House announced the latest slate of judicial nominees. The latest slate of nominees contained six Article III nominees: Amir Ali (D.D.C.), Judge Melissa DuBose (D.R.I.), Magistrate Judge Sunil Harjani (N.D. Ill.), Judge Rebecca Kanter (S.D. Cal.), Robert White (E.D. Mich.), and Jasmine Yoon (W.D. Va.). This slate continues the White House’s emphasis on diversifying the federal bench. If confirmed, Yoon and DuBose would be the first people of color to ever serve as a judge in their respective district courts.

As of January 11, there are 89 Article III vacancies, 60 of which are current. Once the announced nominees are officially nominated, then there will be 31 pending nominees: 1 waiting for floor votes, 19 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 11 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 168 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.