On The Bench: Week of May 2, 2024

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.