On The Bench: Week of April 25, 2024

After finalizing votes on legislation, the Senate went on its scheduled recess this week. As a result, there were no votes on judicial nominations. Before leaving, however, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on Georgia Alexakis (N.D. Ill.), setting up a cloture vote for when the Senate returns on April 30.

This week the White House announced an all-female slate of 7 Article III nominees: Judge Michelle Williams Court (C.D. Cal.), Judge Anne Hwang (C.D. Cal.), Danna Jackson (D. Mont.), Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn (S.D.N.Y.), Stacey Neumann (D. Me.), April Perry (N.D. Ill.), and Judge Cynthia Valenzuela (C.D. Cal.). This slate furthers the White House’s goal of bringing more personal and professional diversity to the federal judiciary.

With this new slate there are now 27 announced nominees. If all 27 of these vacancies are filled, that will bring the Biden-Harris Administration to 220 Article III confirmations. This would be only 14 short of the prior administration’s four year total.

As of April 25, there are 72 Article III vacancies, 41 of which are current. Once the latest nominees are officially nominated, there will be 27 pending nominees: 14 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, 193 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.