On The Bench: Week of September 14, 2023

As of this writing, the Senate has made limited progress on judicial nominations this week. Through Wednesday, the Senate has confirmed just one Article III nominee: Judge Jeffrey Cummings (N.D. Ill.) in a 50-45 vote. Much of the floor time this week in the Senate has focused on the appropriations bill with a government shutdown looming.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold an executive business meeting, where as many as 9 Article III nominees could be voted out of committee. Any nominee voted out of committee will add to the backlog of 16 Article III nominees already pending on the floor.

As of September 13, there are 95 Article III vacancies, 71 of which are current. Once the new nominees are officially nominated, there will be 37 pending nominees: 16 waiting for floor votes, 13 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 7 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 141 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.