As Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell promised last week, on Tuesday the Senate voted to confirm Elizabeth Branch, President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Judge Branch is the 14th of President Trump’s court of appeals nominees confirmed to date. Prior to her confirmation vote, Leader Mitch McConnell praised Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley’s leadership of the committee, stating: “Confirming this worthy nominee will be a further credit to the outstanding work of Chairman Grassley and the members of the committee.”
Additionally, the Senate voted today to confirm another district-court nominee and held cloture votes for three other of President Trump’s pending district-court nominees. Their confirmation votes are anticipated to occur on Monday afternoon.
In his floor remarks, Leader McConnell urged the Senate to “fulfill its constitutional responsibility and confirm the president’s outstanding judicial nominees.” This latest wave of confirmation votes is a positive step toward accomplishing that task.
Here is this week’s full update on federal judicial nominations.
Current and known future vacancies: 180
Courts of Appeals: 25
District/Specialty Courts*: 155
Pending nominees for current and known future vacancies: 60
Courts of Appeals: 10
District/Specialty Courts: 50
* Includes the Court of Federal Claims and the International Trade Court
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Both Blue Slips Returned? | Judiciary Committee Hearing Date |
| Ryan Bounds (9th) | 9/7/2017 | 176 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| John Nalbandian (6th) | 1/24/2018 | 37 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Andrew Oldham (5th) | 2/15/2018 | 15 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Michael Scudder (7th) | 2/15/2018 | 15 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Amy St. Eve (7th) | 2/15/2018 | 15 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Mark Bennett (9th) | 2/15/2018 | 15 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Judiciary Committee Votes
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Judiciary Committee Hearing Date |
| Joel Carson (10th) | 12/20/2017 | 72 | 2/14/2018 |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Floor Votes
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Date Reported out of Senate Judiciary Committee |
| Kyle Duncan (5th) | 10/2/2017 | 151 | 1/18/2018 |
| Kurt Engelhardt (5th) | 10/5/2017 | 148 | 2/8/2018 |
| Michael Brennan (7th) | 8/3/2017 | 211 | 2/15/2018 |
Nominees Awaiting Floor Votes: 31
Courts of Appeals: 3
District/Specialty Courts: 28
Nominees Confirmed by the Senate: 26
Supreme Court: 1
District/Specialty Courts: 11