On The Bench: Week of January 4, 2024

The Senate is set to return from recess next Monday. Before leaving for recess, an agreement was reached to keep three judicial nominees pending on the floor: Magistrate Judge John Kazen (S.D. Tex.), Magistrate Judge Kato Crews (D. Colo.), and Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick (M.D. Pa.). Kazen’s cloture vote is the first vote scheduled for Monday evening.

Virtually all of the remaining nominees who were pending at the end of last session will need to be renominated by the White House. It’s possible those renominations could begin to happen as soon as next week.

At the end of 2023, the Biden Administration had 166 Article III confirmations, which was 21 sort of their predecessor’s three-year total. By the end of year four, the Trump Administration had 234 Article III confirmations, meaning the Biden Administration will need 68 confirmations this year to match. This is one fewer confirmation than the Senate achieved in all of 2023.

As of January 4, there are 89 Article III vacancies, 61 of which are current. If all the nominees who were in the nominations process at the end of last Congress are renominated, then there will be 32 pending nominees: 3 waiting for floor votes, 22 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 7 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 166 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

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 According to media reports, two of the five have withdrawn from consideration and as a result will not be renominated.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.