Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh is on the agenda for the Committee’s executive business meeting this Thursday, September 13th but it is almost a certainty that the Democratic minority will request to hold Kavanaugh’s nomination over an additional week, setting up a vote to advance Kavanaugh out of Committee on Thursday, September 20th.
In the midst of the Kavanaugh hearing last week, the Senate voted to confirm eight district court nominees. This followed the confirmations of seven other district court nominees on August 28th immediately before the Senate’s Labor Day recess. All but three of the 15 uncontroversial district judges were confirmed via voice vote. This is another significant step by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in working to clear the backlog of nominees pending on the Senate Floor. This latest tranche brings the total number of federal judges confirmed to date to 68.
Here is this week’s update on federal judicial nominations:
Current and known future vacancies: 179
Supreme Court: 1
Courts of Appeals: 18
District/Specialty Courts*: 160
Pending nominees for current and known future vacancies: 78
Supreme Court: 1
Courts of Appeals: 10
District/Specialty Courts: 67
* 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 | 152 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Eric Murphy (6th) | 6/18/2018 | 85 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Chad Readler (6th) | 6/18/2018 | 85 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Eric Miller (9th) | 7/19/2018 | 54 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Bridget Shelton Bade (9th) | 8/27/2018 | 15 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Allison Jones Rushing (4th) | 8/27/2018 | 15 | Yes | Not yet scheduled |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Judiciary Committee Votes
Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Judiciary Committee Hearing Date |
Ryan Nelson (9th) | 5/15/2018 | 119 | 7/11/2018 |
Richard Sullivan (2nd) | 5/7/2018 | 127 | 8/1/2018 |
Jonathan Kobes (8th) | 6/11/2018 | 92 | 8/22/2018 |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Floor Votes
Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Date Reported to Senate Floor |
David Porter (3rd) | 4/12/2018 | 152 | 7/19/2018 |
Nominees Awaiting Floor Votes: 30
Courts of Appeals: 1
District/Specialty Courts: 29
Nominees Confirmed by the Senate: 68
Supreme Court: 1
Courts of Appeals: 26
District/Specialty Courts: 41