On The Bench: Week of September 12, 2024

The Senate returned from the August recess this week and made encouraging progress on judicial confirmations. This week the Senate confirmed 4 Article III nominees: Magistrate Judge Adam Abelson (D. Md.), Jeannette Vargas (S.D.N.Y.) Mary Kay Lanthier (D. Vt.), and Laura Margarete Provinzino (D. Minn.). The Senate also invoked cloture on Kevin Ritz (6th Cir.), setting up a potential confirmation vote for early next week.

With these confirmations, the Biden-Harris Administration is at 209 Article III confirmations. This is now only 25 short of matching the previous administration’s four-year total.

As of September 12, there are 66 Article III vacancies, 44 of which are current. There are now 32 pending nominees: 17 waiting for floor votes, 6 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 9 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 209 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.