It has been less than a week since my last update, but a lot has changed since then.
On Thursday, the Senate voted to confirm 15 new federal judges. The tranche included three circuit court judges: Richard Sullivan (Second), David Porter (Third), and Ryan Nelson (Ninth). With the confirmations of these new judges, a total of 29 of President Trump’s circuit court nominees have been confirmed since Inauguration Day.
Last Wednesday evening, President Trump announced his 18th wave of judicial nominees, which included nominees to the Second and Ninth Circuits. (I detailed the bios of those new circuit court nominees in a Bench Memos post earlier this week.)
Also on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance eight judicial nominees to the Senate floor, including Jonathan Kobes, President Trump’s nominee to the Eighth Circuit.
Here is an update on the status of President Trump’s federal judicial nominations. The figures below include last week’s new wave of nominations:
Current and known future vacancies: 154
Courts of Appeals: 15
District/Specialty Courts*: 139
Pending nominees for current and known future vacancies: 72
Courts of Appeals: 12
District/Specialty Courts*: 60
* 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 |
| Paul Matey (3rd) | 4/12/2018 | 186 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Eric Miller (9th) | 7/19/2018 | 88 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Bridget Shelton Bade (9th) | 8/27/2018 | 49 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Allison Jones Rushing (4th) | 8/27/2018 | 49 | Yes | Not yet scheduled |
| Joseph Bianco (2nd) | 10/12/2018 | 5 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Michael Park (2nd) | 10/12/2018 | 5 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Patrick Bumatay (9th) | 10/12/2018 | 5 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Dan Collins (9th) | 10/12/2018 | 5 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Ken Lee (9th) | 10/12/2018 | 5 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Judiciary Committee Votes
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Judiciary Committee Hearing Date |
| Eric Murphy (6th) | 6/18/2018 | 119 | 10/10/2018 |
| Chad Readler (6th) | 6/18/2018 | 119 | 10/10/2018 |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Floor Votes
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Date Reported to Senate Floor |
| Jonathan Kobes (8th) | 6/11/2018 | 124 | 10/11/2018 |
Nominees Awaiting Floor Votes: 34
Courts of Appeals: 1
District/Specialty Courts: 33
Nominees Confirmed by the Senate: 84
Supreme Court: 2
Courts of Appeals: 29
District/Specialty Courts: 53
Click HERE to view online