On The Bench: Week of August 3, 2023

The Senate left for its August Recess last week and will not return until after Labor Day. When it returns, the Senate will have 17 Article III nominees waiting for it on the floor. Before leaving for the recess, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not file cloture on any judicial nominees.

On Monday, the current administration fell behind its predecessor on the number of federal judicial vacancies it has filled. President Biden has had 140 federal judges confirmed thus far, whereas former President Trump had had 144 judges confirmed by the end of July of his third year. For more on the pace of judicial confirmations, check out the last post on ACS’s Expert Forum.

As of August 3, there are 90 Article III vacancies, 69 of which are current. There are 31 pending nominees: 17 waiting for floor votes, 9 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 5 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 140 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

On the Bench will return when the full Senate is back from the August recess and judicial nominations activity resumes.