Being a District Judge in Idaho is largely a thankless job. The state has only two judgeships, and the judges handle a large caseload. Nonetheless, Idaho’s senators have reached a compromise candidate with the White House willing to accept the spot: Judge Amanda Brailsford.
Background
A native Idahoan, Brailsford grew up in Hagerman in Southern Idaho. She received a B.A. from the University of Idaho in 1989 and a J.D. from the University of Idaho School of Law in 1993. Brailsford then clerked for Judge Thomas Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
After her clerkship, Brailsford joined the Boise office of Holland & Hart LLP, as an associate. She was promoted to a partner there eight years later. Brailsford then founded Andersen Banducci PLLC in 2013.
In 2018, Brailsford applied for a seat on the Idaho Supreme Court but was appointed by Republican Governor Butch Otter to a judgeship on Idaho’s Court of Appeals. See In a First, More Women than Men Apply to Idaho High Court, A.P. State & Local Wire, July 31, 2018.
History of the Seat
The District of Idaho, which covers the entire state, has only two authorized active judgeships. Brailsford has been nominated, upon the recommendation of Idaho Senators Michael Crapo and James Risch, to replace Judge B. Lynn Winmill, who took senior status on August 16, 2021. If confirmed, Brailsford would be the first woman on the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
Legal Experience
For approximately twenty-five years before she became a judge, Brailsford worked as a civil litigator. During this time, she argued a number of cases before the Idaho Supreme Court. See, e.g., Spur Prods. Corp. v. Stoel Rives LLP, 122 P.3d 300 (Idaho 2005). For example, Brailsford represented Dr. Mark Miller, a doctor who was sued for violating the non-compete provision of his contract with his prior employer. See Intermountain Eye Laser Ctrs., PLLC v. Miller, 127 P.3d 121 (Idaho 2005). After a lower court granted summary judgment to Dr. Miller, the Idaho Supreme Court reversed. See id. at 133.
Jurisprudence
Since her appointment in 2019, Brailsford has served on the Idaho Court of Appeals, which serves as an intermediate appellate court.
In her time on the court, Brailsford has written opinions in both criminal and civil cases. For example, Brailsford wrote for the court in affirming Cyrus Buehler’s aggravated DUI conviction. She also wrote for the court in affirming the denial of postconviction relief for Thomas Chaput, finding that he had failed to preserve his challenge.
On the civil side, Brailsford affirmed the denial of a concealed weapon license to Darrell Gunderson. Among other arguments, Brailsford rejected the challenge that the law barring his license violated the provision against ex post facto laws, or criminal laws having retroactive effect. Brailsford found that the firearms provision, even though it bars based on criminal conviction, is a regulatory measure and not intended to “punish” criminal conduct. As such, Brailsford ruled that the law was unlawful.
Overall Assessment
Nominated by a Democratic president with support from her Republican senators, Brailsford is expected to sail to confirmation. She should also be helped along the way by her relatively non-political background and the lack of major controversies in her time on the bench.
The Vetting Room 
In the first judicial related news that has not angered me today… (https://www.wxxinews.org/2023-02-22/opening-on-wny-federal-bench-coming-soon)
This will surely be senator Gillibrand’s pick. Utica (Judge Hurd’s duty station) is only 131 miles away from Rochester, NY. I wonder if she will recommend Jorge Rodriguez for the seat since he was willing to move to Utica before Hurd withdrew.
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Problem is this is a different part of NY so I don’t know if Jorge Rodriguez being nominated to this seat would work as well.
I would still pick him to be chief judge of the Court Of Appeals myself and thus resolve a couple of issues but that’s just me.
As to another post made earlier, I have my issues with Gillibrand but she isn’t going to lose a primary challenge to AOC or someone else.
NY as a whole isn’t as progressive blue as folks think it is and it would be unwise IMO for AOC or anyone else to give up their house seat trying it.
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Jorge Rodriguez being nominated chief justice would solve virtually all of the problems with Hochul’s horrendous first pick LaSalle. He would still be a Latino pick, actually be a progressive, young & take care of him after Hurd rescinding. I’m not sure if he applied but if so there’s no reason the commission shouldn’t include his name in the recommendations.
Now Hochul being smart & picking him is a totally different subject. Seeing it would be a smart move I suspect she wouldn’t ick him because when it comes to politics or being a Democrat, Hochul is anything but smart.
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A little more detail about what has been happening with the Wamble nomination.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like Wamble gave answers that indicated perhaps he wasn’t 100% on board with being a circuit court nominee even though he had been nominated to one so the WH bumped him to a district court seat instead.
Still not entirely thrilled with how this played out.
It might gives us Jacy Hurst or Carl Folsom(though he would certainly be opposed by both senators) but if there were issues, they should have been spotted earlier then this.
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I just don’t understand how he thought about it after he was nominated. We all know how long it takes from initial contact to the day your announced in most cases. But whatever the reason is, I too hope we get Jacy Hurst, Carl Folsom or Daniel Hansmeier since Lauren Bond is definitely out if Biden is negotiating in good faith with election deniers.
I’m really worried the nominee might not be one of them though. If it’s somebody like Stephen Six, it would really be a wasted seat. I could see the senators pushing somebody like him saying he was blocked when Obama nominated him but they will support him now (Of course in his late 50’s). I really hope I’m wrong here & we at least get one of the three I mentioned above though.
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@Dequan
This is unusual. I haven’t seen this happen before, is there any precedent for it?
Also, Kato Crews was nominated for District Court in Colorado.
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I’ve never heard of a nominee being nominated for a circuit court seat first & then district court seat by the same president. I believe one president has nominated somebody for a circuit court seat & they weren’t confirmed & then a later president nominated them for a district court seat. Today may be unprecedented.
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@Dequan
I can speculate. Jabari Wamble is well versed in the trial phase of justice, but has no experience I’m aware of in appellate law. So perhaps every interested party agreed that Wamble is better suited to District Court.
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Hoping for a highly qualified candidate unlike Wamble.
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I don’t see Wamble as unqualified. There will be a learning curve for most new judges. They have law clerks & plenty of means to help them get up to speed.
And he had a lengthy background. I am sure he would have ended up just fine on the circuit court. Quiet as it’s kept, almost all of them are qualified if they make it to the point of being nominated. Even the ones I don’t think should have been confirmed based on their SJC appearances. They pass law school which you can’t just skate through.
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Just more proof of an inexperienced “Romper-Room” WH Counsel running the show! The process for interviewing & selecting Article III Judges has become a joke & an embarrassment. And it’s taking me back to when George Bush was President, and it became public knowledge that he had
20-something year olds in-charge of choosing Federal Judges.
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Some of the recently confirmed nominees already received their commission
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Joe_Biden#:~:text=As%20of%20February%2016%2C%202023,the%20United%20States%20district%20courts.
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@ Rick
Makes sense in a couple of them because the D.D.C and District of New Mexico are both busy courts and the California District was a judicial emergency.
I suspect with Judge Nelson of Oregon that it might take a month or two for her to be confirmed, as she might have to wrap up cases on the Oregon Supreme Court before she can take her seat.
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@Dequan
If Wamble was qualified for the Circuit Court his nomination wouldn’t have become a fiasco.
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Merrick Garland didn’t get a hearing & he’s probably the most qualified person in the country to sit on the SCOTUS. Things happen such as life, politics & other factors. Not getting confirmed or a hearing doesn’t at all mean somebody is not qualified.
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No comparison. Besides, it sounds like Wamble himself realized that he was in over his head. Nepotism was clearly the reason this Circuit Court nomination happened in the first place.
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He is still being nominated for a district court seat and he has been an AUSA in Kansas since 2011.
He has the experience but it seems from the back and forth he feels it would be better on a district court level then a circuit court one.
As for potential nominees, the only one I would be against would be Stephen Six.
It’s a shame what happened to his nomination but sometimes one sadly has to say what’s done is done and move on.
I’m hoping that the eventual nominee will be Jacy Hurst or Carl Folsom at this point.
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Agree that he’s qualified & better suited for a District Court Bench nomination, and I wish him well with the confirmation process.
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Great points here Zack. I’m not a fan of everything Biden has done, but his judicial nominees are for the most part a vast improvement over the FedSoc hacks Trump was putting up. He could’ve easily returned to recognizing blue slips completely for circuit nominees (heck I would’ve probably done that) but didn’t. Just seeing a moderate for any of the remaining circuit court seats would be much better for the country than seeing a Republican nominating and confirming another set of right wing hacks. As for Biden listening to election deniers, blue slips still exist at the district court level, and most likely will for the foreseeable future, so if you want to see district court nominees, you have to be willing to negotiate a bit.
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This is how disinformation spreads. People stating opinions as absolute facts. This adds to the disservice the WH has done to Wamble.
The ridiculousness of the idea that Wamble all of a sudden just realized that he wasn’t qualified and took himself out of consideration is just astounding and probably reflects a lack of critical thinking. Wamble didn’t just wake up one morning and saw his name in the news as being a nominee for a district circuit judgeship. It’s a position he ostensibly interviewed for, despite being suggested for the role. What about his qualification changed between the moment he was nominated and after? Did he become less knowledgeable on the law after?
People would go out of their way to defend the Biden folks that they don’t even see that, in this case, their defense is actually an indictment. For example, if you think that the problem is with Wamble’s qualification, then are you prepared to admit that the WH incompetently vetted him?
Of course, I don’t believe that there’s any issue with Wamble’s qualification or with the WH’s vetting of him. I **think** (NOT a known fact) this is simply a result of negotiations with the KS senators.
So before we take up even more space with our reflexive defense of Biden or further cast more aspersions on Wamble (an AUSA for over a decade isn’t qualified??), let’s wait until we see who gets nominated in his place, and for his SJC questionnaire, which should help clear up some of the unknowns, of which there are MANY.
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It could certainly be incompetence on the WH Counsel’s part, or yes many other reasons, but does it really matter at this point, because what’s done is done, and the man is obviously moving on with the DC nomination & so is the WH. Now I just hope for his sake both Senators turn in their blue slips, then we’ll know that they too are indeed supporting his nomination.
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And speaking of Blue Slips…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dems-consider-break-tradition-biden-050750024.html
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@Jill
They could have written that article by copy & pasting us from this blog… Lol
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Right? A subject so thoroughly discussed on here.
We need new (and better!) nominees, already! Without them, we’re going to fall in that cycle of constantly commenting on well-debated topics again. I don’t think I can survive another round of discussions on how much Pat Leahy sucked on blue slips.
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The argument can be made that the three batches we have gotten since Democrats clinched a 51st senator & outright majority, could be the worst three out of all 30 batches.
The 28th batch had a blue state Republican. The 29th batch had a blue state circuit court nominee in his mid 50’s with little progressive background & a blue state district court nominee in his 60’s & the 30th batch had only one new lifetime appointment & a circuit court nominee downgraded to the district court. As much as I bash the J Childs nomination, at least we got Nancy Abudu in the same batch. And when we got Florence Pan, at least we got Rachel Bloomekatz in the same batch. I’m having a hard time naming any of the previous 27 batches with 50 senators worst than the last three with 51 senators.
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Disinformation can take many forms.
We’ve had several Circuit court nominees (Anthony Johnstone will be the latest) that have been confirmed over the objection of home state Republican senators yet people still push the narrative Biden is a coward clinging to blue slips for circuit court nominees.
Am I happy with how the Wamble nomination has played out or some of the latest nominees?
Nope but calling Biden a coward given some of the people that have been nominated and confirmed is garbage and I don’t mind saying so.
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Although we will probably never know what was the reason for the Wamble Story, maybe it’s somthing simple. As a circuit nominee, you know there are Blackburn, Lee, Cotton, Hawley and Cruz waiting just for you, and each of them has five minutes to make your day really bad, while you have at least three other nominees beside you, most of the above mentioned are no more there, because you are much less interesting, and hence enjoy a much better day.
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This is the most farfetched hypothesis yet. But, hey, it’s as good as any.
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I would hope being scared to answer questions for 5 minutes isn’t a reason for somebody who was nominated for a circuit court judgeship backed out. For that matter, I hope The White House wouldn’t let somebody who is scared of that to make it far enough along the process to be nominated. If they were, then they would be more dysfunctional than I ever could have imagined. I’m pretty positive that isn’t the reason.
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I don’t think it gets raised enough by many here, but it bears mentioning just as much as anything else. Perhaps certain otherwise other extremely well qualified progressives have issues in their past which could cause their nomination to be derailed. I don’t think that is the issue with Wamble, but it could be with other nominees. Scott in the W.D. Va. is one person who immediately comes to mind as falling in that category, but there are likely many more people who fall there that we never hear about. This is why extensive background checks are so critical for all judicial positions, and why I’ll generally never be mad at the amount of time between a vacancy and an announced nominee.
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I remember reading Juval Scott’s issue was more so she didn’t have a good working relationship with many people she interacted with. It was particularly damning that one of the woman’s groups from Virginia came out against her knowing the only other recommended nominee was a White man in his 60’s.
But to your point more broadly, plenty of highly qualified progressives do see the chances of them being nominated. But yes I agree Wamble doesn’t fall into that category. He leaned more closer to the normal type of background for federal judgeships.
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The SJC site got a little face lift, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/
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Linsey Graham wishes he still looked as young as his picture on the home page. That must be from the 1990’s… Lol
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Imagine if Mary Beck Briscoe had announced she will take senior status upon the confirmation of her successor instead of on March 15, 2021. She would be so mad right now… Lol
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WHY CAN’T THE SENATE JUST TAKE THE MONDAY HOLIDAY LIKE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY INSTEAD OF THE WHOLE WEEK?
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Haaaaaa… We been asking that same question. They need a vacation after their vacation before their vacation about their vacation regarding their vacation.
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FYI–I had included the warning that this was a mild rant, but it’s not showing up here. I don’t make it a habit to write in all caps except as snark. Sorry if anyone is put off.
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About the Red State nominations.
Jabari Wamble has been announced for Kansas. The Senators must have acquiesced to it.
In South Dakota, there should be a district court nominee coming soon. The candidate in question is being vetted.
In South Carolina, there are two front-runners to succeed Michelle Childs.
Iowa produced a nominee who was satisfactory.
Indiana has been productive, producing a Circuit Court Judge and a nominee for District Court who is likely to be confirmed.
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Who is the South Dakota nominee being vetted? I heard about all the others but haven’t heard about that state.
Also for Texas, Cornyn said he & Cruz sent Biden names for multiple seats. For Florida, Rubio said he is surprised names haven’t already been accepted & announced. Senator Kennedy said Biden sent them names but they were unacceptable & he couldn’t support them.
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Veronica Duffy is the possible nominee in South Dakota.
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About Texas and Florida, could it be that the White House dropped the ball?
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I knew about Veronica Duffy being recommended but that was from the state Democrat party. I wasn’t sure if the senators gave their approval yet.
And I’m the case of Texas & Florida, I wouldn’t necessarily call it dripping the ball. I agree with confirming as many blue state judges as possible the first two years. Had the Democrats lost last November, you will still get the same judges with a Republican majority in red states as long as blue slips are still in play. You wouldn’t be able to get the same judges in blue states however so I think they just prioritized & I would say they were smart to do so.
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@Dequan
Veronica Duffy seems to be an acceptable choice, but the Senators and White House both want to know more about her before making a decision.
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Just my option but given the antics Rubio did with some nominees under Obama (he would claim to support some then block them when they were nominated) I would take his word with a grain of salt on nominees now.
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Good article on the lousy judges coming from New Jersey
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/02/cory-booker-judicial-appointments-biden-judges.html
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My God, finally somebody outside of this blog can see it. Too late for the 8 or so picks already but still time to save the last district court seat & more importantly the 3rd circuit seat. Maybe they can be shamed into making good picks.
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My hope is that Judge Esther Salas does indeed get elevated to the Circuit.
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It’s just another rant from a white liberal who doesn’t know any black people. The issue of crime is more complicated than what the article suggests.
It’s simplistic to say the criminal justice system is racist and if you’re a prosecutor you are part of the problem.
It’s a tired argument.
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@Mitch @Dequan
“About Texas and Florida, could it be that the White House dropped the ball?”
Shhh, don’t say that out loud. The Biden-Can-Do-No-Wrong-On-Judges gang here will pounce.
This is a disagreement I have with Dequan. Sorry for doing this, but I find that a categorical response is the best way to thoroughly dispatch a weaker argument. so, here are my two counterpoints that impair the “blue states first” strategy argument:
1: The purported strategy of blue states first would mean no district court nominees in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and KENTUCKY!
Can you please explain why they would deviate from this strategy in those states but not for states where there’s actually more district court vacancies? Do you think Ron Jon or Cindy Hyde-Smith is more amenable than Cruz or Rubio? This argument is further undermined by Cornyn’s statement that they WH sat on a list of names for SIX months. It’s one thing if the WH was passively waiting for the Texas senators to reply; the WH would have rightfully moved on to more fruitful negotiation. But it’s quite another thing to send those senators a list of names, get their response within 6 days, and then sit on that list for 6 months.
2: “Had the Democrats lost last November, you will still get the same judges with a Republican majority in red states as long as blue slips are still in play.”
I disagree. A dem WH and dem senate in charge of nominations does NOT give you the same type of nominees in red states as with a dem WH and Republican senate.
The dem WH/dem senate scenario: The Republican blue slip veto moderates the kind of nominees the WH is allowed to make. But the nominee will more likely resemble the type you’d expect from a dem WH.
The dem WH/GOP senate scenario: The nominee will look less like the type you’d expect from a dem WH, but usually still not totally unacceptable to the WH.
These differences, even if minor, are still important.
Overall, I do not object to the WH focusing on blue state vacancies. In fact, I support that. What I disagree with is the idea that that focus should be exclusive to the detriment filling vacancies in red states whose senators are willing to play ball.
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We don’t know if some of them are willing to play ball or are just saying they will, especially given their track record.
Under Obama, Cornyn made clear Obama wouldn’t be allowed to fill any Circuit Court vacancy from the 5th Circuit unless he or she was a Federalist Society Member.
Why exactly are we talking his word on anything now?
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@Gavi
I think The White House prioritized blue states but by no means think they completely shut out good deals from Republican senators. Still, I’ll respond point by point to your argument;
Indiana – As I’ve said in the past the Indians senators are doing what I think other Republican senators would be smart to do. They are offering nominees that check a lot of the boxes (Black woman, public defender, somebody that won an award from Eric Holder) while also making sure the nominees aren’t too liberal. It would be hard for even somebody like me that wants young liberals nominated to pass on a guarantee & swift confirmation of somebody like Doris Pryor to fight to the death for somebody like Jessica Eglin.
Pennsylvania & Ohio – Both had Republican senators that were retiring so I can see wanting to close the deal in those states before a new unpredictable senator is in office. Although I disagreed with the Pennsylvania deal & would not have confirmed them once Fetterman won & the Democrats clinched 50 senators even before Warnock won.
Iowa – I’m sorry but this was the best nominee we were gonna get out of Iowa regardless of the senate composition. Hell I can name 5 blue state district court Biden nominees he’s better than right off the top of my head.
Louisiana – We don’t have any district court nominees from here so not sure what your referring to.
Wisconsin – This is a purple state so I wasn’t talking about this scenario in my argument.
Mississippi – Hyde-Smith still hasn’t turned in her blue slip so I can’t say Biden did as much negotiating here as the examples above. Still, we all have been saying on this blog from day one Colom was the best nominee for the district court & probably 5th from Mississippi.
Kentucky – While we don’t have a nominee from the state, I know you’re referring to Chad Meredith. That was just a huge screw up for the deal to even be considered but still, we all know it was because the senate minority leader is one of the senators from the state.
As for the second argument, we will have to agree to disagree. I just don’t see a substantial better nominee from a red state with a Democrat majority over one with a Republican majority as long as blue slips are in play. If you’re saying you would get a nominee that is slightly better then I can agree to that. But I would still say it makes more sense to prioritize blue state seats with a Democrat majority in which you can get nominees that are substantially more progressive knowing in those states you definitely will not get those same type of nominees confirmed in a Republican majority. I think it would be worth a slight drop off in red state nominees had the Republicans won in November.
@Jill
I do expect Salas to be the nominee but I would much rather a nominee a decade or so younger. Particularly one of Murphy’s two woman he put in the NJ SCOTUS or a young progressive Black man. But due to everything we know that happened to Salas family combined with her being Latina & a former public defender, I expect her to be the nominee should she apply.
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I don’t understand your rollcall of nominees from those states. I listed those states not to pass judgement on the quality of the nominees but to **highlight** that the WH, contrary to your argument, wasn’t only looking at blue state vacancies. And so, if the WH can move to fill those vacancies, why not the other red states, especially the ones with more vacancies? (Louisiana was included because the WH did send those senators a list, which they rejected. I am counting that as an example of red state negotiation.) (Also, purple state or not, you still need blue slips. So there’s no principle way to exclude Wisconsin.)
So yeah, my point is not to argue that Steven Lochner was the best we could have hoped to get from Iowa. My point is to highlight that the WH and Iowa’s 2 senators could negotiate, agree on, vet, and name a nominee. This would run counter to your views on blue states first.
So, as in Iowa, why not in Texas/Florida? That’s my point.
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Gavi, the senators from Texas and Florida are much more obstructionist than in most other states, and have little incentive to agree to a non Federalist Society hack.
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I anticipated this argument and addressed it above, please see it.
It’s not very obstructionist to use only 6 days out of the 3-week window to get back to the WH, is it?
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@Gavi
The main disagreement with that argument is there were 33 district court nominees held over from last year. So for every red state nominee that we agree would have only been slightly better then a nominee with a Republican majority, that’s one less blue state nominee that would not have been confirmed had the Republicans won. That would have added to the 33, many of which would not have been confirmed had the Democrats lost.
My argument is I would much rather confirm a much more progressive blue state nominee last year than the slightly better red state democrat majority nominee. As you know with a 3 day work week senate floor time is limited.
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That depends on if they agreed on any of the names, and if not proposed a number of non federalist society (or political favor type) hacks. I don’t care if you only take 6 seconds to say no to a reasonable nominee; that’s still obstructionist. Considering everything we know about the senators from Texas and Florida, I’d be surprised if they did, but would love to be proven wrong.
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Adrienne Nelson received her commission yesterday so there’s officially a vacancy on the Oregon SCOTUS. We should see in short order what type of justices & judges the new governor will appoint.
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I’m surprised Adrienne Nelson got her commission so fast given that I thought it would take her time to wrap up any remaining cases she was a part of.
Now we’ll have to wait and see whom Tina Kotek’s first pick will be.
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It depends on when that court hears and decides cases, I would think.
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Several Oregon Court of Appeals Judges that could be contenders for the Oregon Supreme Court:
-Kristina Hellman (born c. 1976), a former Assistant Federal Defender.
-Anna Joyce (born c. 1974), former Solicitor General of Oregon.
-Erin Lagesen (born c. 1969), former clerk to Judge Susan Graber of the 9th circuit.
-Ramon Pagan (born c. 1975), clerked for Sotomayor when she was a judge on the 2nd circuit.
It’s also possible elevates someone directly from a county circuit court, like Adrienne Nelson was. Strong contenders from that level include:
-Adrian Brown (born c. 1975), woman (noting since Adrian is a unisex name). Currently judge on the Multnomah County (Portland) Circuit Court who previously served as the Civil Rights Coordinator AUSA for the District of Oregon.
-Erious Johnson (born c. 1969), black man, currently a judge on the Marion County (Salem) Circuit Court. Previously served as Director of the Civil Rights Division of the Oregon Attorney General’s office.
-Angela Lucero (born c. 1979), currently judge on the Multnomah County (Portland) Circuit Court.
-Chanpone Sinlapasai (born c. 1976), currently judge on the Multnomah County (Portland) Circuit Court. First Laotian-American judge in the United States.
-Benjamin Souede (born c. 1977), currently judge on the Multnomah County (Portland) Circuit Court. Served as General Counsel to former Oregon Governor Kate Brown and also served as an advisor to Hillary Clinton while she was a Senator.
-Xiomara Torres (born c. 1971), came to the United States from El Salvador as a child and her life story was profiled in this podcast. https://www.latinousa.org/2019/03/29/judgexiomaratorres/
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With the number of justices Kate Brown appointed, this will likely be the new governors only appointment in her first term. I hope she issues it wisely.
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All confirmed Biden nominees all have their commissions now
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Joe_Biden#:~:text=As%20of%20February%2024%2C%202023,the%20United%20States%20district%20courts.
Now, if we can just get confirmations of including, but not limited to Dale Ho, Rachael Bloomekatz, Julie Rikelman
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And we already have an executive meeting for this Thursday. I believe all of the nominees listed have been held over once so if so, that will be a handful more going to the floor assuming all her voted favorably.
With only one new nominee in the 30th batch, Schumer should be laser focused on confirming the pending nominees before the Easter break. For God’s sakes, it’s getting to the point where Schumer can’t skip over the good nominees anymore. It’s either being up Ho, Abudu, Rinkleman & the other joke run hitters or they will be sitting in the senate chamber watching Netflix.
(https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-actions/hearings/03/02/2023/executive-business-meeting)
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I don’t think our most prized batch of Ho, Abudu, Rinkleman & the others can be voted on yet. Not until fetterman returns or there’s a GOP out for a few weeks. I firmly believe that this group languished last year because of at least one privately stated Democratic objection.
This is why you need to vote every single time you have your full caucus and not waste time. Long term absences aren’t predictable and Dems seem to be more prone to these. Republican senators may have horrible digit amputating accidents or hip replacements, but still won’t be out for more than a couple weeks.
Aagren’s prediction about the 7th circuit vacancy is looking more and more likely. But, sure, we have all the time in the world. No need to rush.
My *rolling* grade for the three men:
Biden: D
Durbin: B+
Schumer: C
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If they go in order, then Abudu, Ho and others will be teed up for votes this week.
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They estimated Fetterman could be out a month or so. With this recess week, if he’s out another 2 – 3 weeks, they may hold off on the heavy hitters until the last week before Easter recess. It sure would help if a Republican senator could be out for weeks at a time but somehow they all must be invincible. Only Democrats are out for weeks sadly…smh
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With Fetterman out, there are still 50 Democrats. Thus nominees without GOP support can be confirmed on a 50-49 party line vote so long as everyone else shows up.
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Yes but some were suggesting Manchin could be a no vote on a few nominees. So we figure Schumer might hold off on those nominees until after Fetterman is back becasue even with all Republicans & Manchin voting no, the nominee can still be confirmed with VP Harris tie vote.
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My grade so far for the three are as followed;
Biden: B+… I think Biden has been the best Democrat president so far when it comes to judges. I can’t give him an A+ just based on putting Childs & Pan on the DC circuit alone. That brings it it down to an A. Then I gotta take off some more for not pushing back on Democrat senators crappy picks in blues dates like New Jersey. But he’s simply nominated far too many rock star progressives for me to lower it much more. Also he is outpacing most of his predecessors in the modern era in nominees. However if future batches look like the last 3, I reserve the right to change my mind.
Durbin: A… I give Durbin the highest grade of them all. We are about to run out of nominees to fill up a hearing. He has warned he is open to amending blue slips for senators that abuse them. He has pushed back against nonsense request like a second hearing for Nusrat Jahan Choudhury or senator Daines wanting to have a sit down interview with every 9th circuit nominee even if they are not for Alaska. I have to take some points off for him refusing to hold a hearing during the Summer or any other recess & not holding hearings more frequently when there was a risk of Democrats losing the election & nominees ending the year without a hearing.
Schumer: B-… He’s done a pretty remarkable job keeping the caucus in line with only one no vote (Yes his no vote in Freeman counts… Lol) & a record number of confirmations. But we all know where I stand on the 3 day work week & too many recess weeks. Honestly if it wasn’t for that I would give Schumer the highest rating out of the three.
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They aren’t going in order.
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@Gavi – I think you are correct in suggesting that one of the Democrats are withholding a vote for Abudu, Ho and Rickleman.
If they had the votes it would been done a long ago.
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I don’t see why any of Democrat would oppose Abudu. I kind of see it for Ho and Rikelman, though I do not think any of them would be renominated if more than 1 Democrat opposed. So I’m going to assume that all 3 have at least 50 senators supporting, or at worst, 1 Democrat opposed and several others undecided.
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Why do you not see it for Abudu? Why I think she is, there are a few things in her background that have not been likable to Manchin.
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I agree with Gavi as well here. Especially with Rikelman, Manchin has consistently voted against nominees who have advocated for pro-choice positions. I can’t see him voting for her, especially if he is planning on running to retain his seat in 2024.
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I still don’t get why Schumer discharged Clarke and Vera in the last Congress (June 2022), yet they never had the cloture and final vote…Then both were renominated and cleared the committee with 22 others couple weeks ago
If Manchin or Sinema were against some of the progressive favorites (Ho, Bloomekatz, Rikelman, etc) wouldn’t they have already announced it by now?….When Manchin opposed Neara Tanden for an Executive position (Budget) he broadcasted it right away, (or straight away as the British would say)
We’ll have one cloture vote Mon night, let’s see if Schumer files new cloture motions then
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Schumer most definitely needs to send some cloture motions to the desk Monday. The four pending will only last through Tuesday. With no new motions filed, they won’t have anything to do on Wednesday. After taking 3 weeks off in the first two months. The least they can do is give us two back to back full weeks before the following two weeks in which they are taking back to back Monday’s off again.
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And I assume will have the final vote for Kahn for 2nd Circuit next week…She’ll get 3 GOP votes…This is almost considered a gain since she’s replacing Carbanes who might as well be considered someone a Republican president would nominate
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He almost definitely will.
My guess is it’ll be 3-4 district nominees and then one of the less controversial appellate nominees for a Thursday cloture vote. My guess is Bradley Garcia because he will get Graham’s (and presumably Murkowski’s and Collins’) votes
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Not necessarily. The Democratic caucus likes to show unity as much as possible, so if there is opposition to a nominee, we wouldn’t necessarily hear about it.
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What I want to hear is move to proceed to Executive Session to consider calendar number 20-29…If you hear executive calendar and it’s in the 20’s then its going to be one of the home run nominees
https://www.congress.gov/search?pageSort=numberAsc&q=%7B%22source%22%3A%22nominations%22%2C%22congress%22%3A%22118%22%2C%22senate-committee%22%3A%22Judiciary%22%7D
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@Rick
I love hearing Schumer say that as long as it’s followed by from the judiciary committee. I hate when he says all that & then follows it up by saying from the Veteran Affairs Committee… Haaaaa
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@Rick
This is a bit of US Senate esoterica but we have Robert Byrd of West Virginia to thank for the ability to enter into Executive Session AND immediately consider a nominee.
Before the 1980s, you had to enter into Executive Session first, then, in a separate motion, call up for consideration a nomination. So what’s the big deal, you might ask? Well, that nomination could then be filibustered.
Thankfully, Byrd, over the objection of Jesse Helms, led the senate to overrule the chair and set (not change) this precedent that we don’t even think of today, even though it saves us days of floor time per nomination.
Don’t tell me there isn’t a difference between a reconstructed racist and an unreconstructed one.
Trivia over…
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Robert Byrd was a fine man in the second half of his life. It goes back to a conversation we had on this blog maybe a year or so ago. Somebody asked would being a member of the KKK even for a short amount of time disqualify them in my mind for voting for them. We got on the subject because we were talking about Hugo Black.
I said (As a Black man) that I certainly would give it heavy consideration but it wouldn’t in itself be disqualifying. If somebody joined decades ago but quickly realized their wrong ways & has had a lifetime of service doing food, I would vote for them quicker then some Biden nominees we have gotten so far.
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Hmmmm, I don’t know how I feel about this. I guess the good news is nobody can do any worse or a job.
(https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3873178-nikki-fried-to-lead-florida-democrats-as-party-chair/)
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Florida is pretty much gone for Democrats, though I think it might be a good strategy for Dems to spend a little bit of money there iff they can bait Republicans into doing the same.
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I’m looking forward to kahn confirmation this week along with other district nominees.
I continue to maintain there will be no nominee to the open vacancy on the 7th circuit this year. We are already about to be in the 3rd month of the year march, and not even a whisker about possible nominees or someone being on the shortlist.
The two GOP senators will string biden along for months in the guise of finding consensus and delay time and when they can’t possible delay any longer they will force biden to pick the most right wing option and choice that is palatable to hacks like severino and other right wingers. Biden will go along with it completely with no hesitation.
This is a right wing Conservative open vacancy seat there is simply no universe where the two GOP senators will work in good faith none.
They only supported doris pryor because its a Liberal replacing a Liberal there’s no difference.
One thing that really gets me is biden was a failed presidential candidate who was humiliated twice before 2020 run, he lost iowa,NH and nv and if not for black Americans was certain to bow out in disgrace a 3rd time . He owes black people and how does he repay it?
He let’s an insurrenctionist and racist senator like Roger Marshall who whines about wokeness and who has even insulted biden by saying he should take a mental health test to have final say so on judges
He demoted a black man and humiliated him by nominating him to the district court seat after picking the man for an appellate judgeship
Why? Because a bigot like Roger Marshall wasn’t happy.
Whose side will biden take? The black man and black voters who saved his floundering campaign?
No it’s the senator who voted to throw out the electoral votes of states biden won and person whining about wokeness and tolerance. That’s who biden picks and values.
He will always choose commitee and the good ol buddy system over progress.
How did trump treat dem senators? He didn’t even meet with cory booker and NJ senators before he shoved his nominee to the 3rd circuit down their throats and told them to like it.
Kamala Harris and feinstein were vehemently against Kenneth Lee did trump withdraw the nominee? Or demote him to a district court ship in the hope of finding consensus with the democratic california senators?
Nope! He shove the federalist society hack down their throats and told them to like it.
Yet biden allows a bigot and an insurrectionists who voted to throw millions of Americans votes sway in the election to get has sway and power over biden judicial nominations.
That’s what’s so painful
Why give these bad faith and racists senators who openly hate you and more importantly people who voted you into office any agency?
The grade for biden is a C- at best and in actually reality more of a D-F.
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@aangren
I’m still angry about Wamble. As for the 7th, I think we will end up with another version of Doris Pryor. Somebody who checks a couple of boxes (Maybe a Hispanic, somebody who dabbled in somewhat of a progressive background & somebody close to 50 years old) but not somebody that blows my socks off.
To to the larger context as to what you said regarding that seat, this is why I truly believe any red state circuit court vacancy that is announced after January of next year, I don’t believe the seat will get filled. I can see the Republicans stalling for 4 months easily. That brings us into June 2024. Then I can see the vetting taking a month or so. That would bring us to July when the nominee could be announced. You have to wait a month for the SJC hearing but the senate will surely be on recess next August so the hearing would take place around September. With the senate probably taking most of October off for the election, I can see that nominee not being confirmed before the end of 2024.
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I really don’t understand why people are getting worked up over the Wamble nomination.
The approval of both Senators from Kansas isn’t required for the 10th Circuit. However, for the district court both Senator’s have to return the blue slip. That’s a different process.
I don’t get the impression that Wamble is disappointed with being a district judge. He will see familiar face and not have to be away from his family.
In a small state like Kansas a district judge has more power than a circuit judge. He can make his own decisions that are binding on parties.
It takes a lot work to get around the ruling of a district judge. Most trial attorney’s don’t do appellate work and vice versa for appellate attorney’s.
I think Biden has done well given the nearly even makeup of the Senate.
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@shawnee68
Most of us are upset because we have pointed out several times on this blog how Black men are either not considered or when they are, treated substantially worse then other nominees.
In the case of Wamble, most of us were resigned to the fate of him & Andre Mathis being the only two Black men nominated to a circuit court in Biden’s first term. We excused it because of Biden putting a record number of Black woman on the courts. After the announcements of Watford & Greenway, we figured there is going to be a net negative number of Black men (Which already was too low) but at least both of Biden’s judges were in their low 40’s.
Call me skeptical but I’m just not buying the story we are being given. Wamble is a smart guy. I just don’t see how he didn’t think about the differences between a circuit court & district court judge until AFTER he was nominated. And before you say maybe they rushed the nomination, remember the two year anniversary of this vacancy is in a couple of weeks & that’s not including the time the judge announced she was retiring.
So yes I’m angry we lose a young Black man off of the circuit courts. Yes I’m angry to think senator election overturning Marshall had even one word involved in the decision. Yes I’m upset we have only had one Black man elevated to the circuit courts in the past 3,087 days. At this point there are just as many men that have been in space serving in the 100 member senate as there are Black men confirmed during that time to serve on the 179 authorized circuit court judges. That gets me upset but there are still several vacancies left to correct that wrong.
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Why exactly should they spend money there when they have absolutely no chance in winning?
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It’s political malpractice by the Democrats if they don’t fill that open 7th Circuit, along with the open seats on the 5th & 10th Circuits.
The last admin filled PLENTY of seats on the 2nd, 3rd, & 9th Circuits where one or TWO Democratic senators opposed a nomination
That’s one problem with Democrats, they worry too much about being liked by Republicans, they don’t want to make them mad by filling court vacancies without their approval whereas Republicans are simply ruthless – they filled every Circuit vacancy in the last admin come hell or high water, they’d didn’t give a damn if a nominee(s) had approval from democratic senators. Well, turnabout is fair play
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Who said they weren’t going to fill the vacancies? They have almost 21 months.
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Only people with no sense of the concept of time and those who are being disingenuous.
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The Republicans should act more like the Democrats do when it comes to judicial vacancies, and be classy to the senators who worked hard to be elected to their state, even as they were not elected from their political party. Sadly, DJT did not help with this and the overall hearing of norms, but it doesn’t mean the Democrats should surrender from their values as a result. Of course, if the Republicans don’t want to be reasonable, Biden should nominate a qualified candidate to any open seat (as it pertains to Circuit court seats).
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Looking forward to hopefully a big week. Should get Kahn and 7 or 8 district nominees confirmed plus plus cloture on another circuit nominee.
That would leave us with only 4 circuit and 17-18 district judges awaiting floor votes. 5 more should get voted out of committee on Thursday as well. My hope is that all of them get confirmation prior to Easter, even if Fetterman remains out, but I’ve been wrong before.
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@Joe
In addition to all of that, perhaps Schumer will finally take my advice & vote for cloture for two circuit court nominees on Thursday so both can be confirmed on the same day Monday. So far he has only done it once under Biden.
Under Trump, the senate confirmed two circuit court nominee on the same day FIVE times. That includes October 11, 2018 when the senate confirmed THREE of Trump’s circuit court nominees on the same day.
In addition hopefully we get another batch of new nominees either this week or next. As bad as only one new nominee last week was, if we get a large new batch over the next two weeks, there could be hearings on 4/19, 5/3 & 5/17. And if we got another large batch after that, they could have the following hearings before the two week 4th of July vacation… 5/31 & 6/14. So still hope
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Yeah, and Oct 11, 2018 would have been a few weeks before a midterm election….In 2022, a midterm year, the senate was out entire month…Think they adjourned Sept 28, and didn’t come back til Nov 14 when they had a cloture vote on a District Court nominee (one of the Puerto Rico seats)
As far as a quick look at 2024, the senate SHOULD be business as usual thru July….Then there’s the Aug recess…The big question marks is what will happen in Sept / Oct…Probably won’t be much in way of hearings, but there could be floor votes, especially in early Sept when they should still be in session
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Yes, more nominees are definitely needed badly. Hoping for a big batch soon.
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Starting tomorrow, there will be four District Judges being voted on.
Jamar Walker- In spite of being the first LGBT Federal Judge nominee in Virginia history, he hasn’t been controversial. He’ll win by a comfortable margin.
Jamal Whitehead- this will be a closer vote, but I expect Whitehead to be confirmed by a fair margin.
Araceli Martinez-Olguin- she’s perceived as supporting illegal immigration and Republicans will resist on her. Democrats will have to stick together for her to be confirmed.
Margaret Guzman- her record as a local judge has opened her up to charges of being pro-criminal. She also needs for Democrats to stick together to get confirmed
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Great, rational post from shawnee68 regarding the Wamble situation. I know we often get tunnel vision and look at the circuit courts as being more prestigious than district courts, but every possible nominee you can name has a different set of ambitions. Some lawyers who otherwise would be extremely well qualified are simply not interested in being a judge whatsoever. Others prioritize providing for family over their career/dream job (seeing as the pay for a federal judge isn’t exactly great), and there are countless other reasons that go into the process regarding pursuing a lifetime appointment as an Article III judge.
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Yes it is indeed a privilege and an honor to receive a lifetime appointment as the demand is much greater than the supply, and some folks have a better chance of getting struck by lightning. The stars certainly have to align, because of how polarizing the process has become. And what angers me most is when unqualified political hacks get nominated & confirmed and abuse their power instead of honoring their oath. But much respect to all the hard-working dedicated public servants who honor their duty and leave the politics to the politicians.
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People know my thoughts by now but the idea Biden/Durbin etc. didn’t cave to other Republicans senators on nominees they opposed but somehow did in KS because of cowardice or racism doesn’t wash with me.
I know it does with the folks who hate Biden no matter what and are choosing to ignore Andre Mathis, Arianna Freeman, Cindy Chung and Anthony Johnstone, all examples where Republicans got told to take their blue slips and stuff em but it’s not reality.
Yes, the Kansas thing is a mess but we don’t know how it played out or will until we see who the eventual nominee is.
As to the other point made, IMO, Biden/Harris are going with the go with the folks who brought you theory on circuit court nominees and that would be black women who voted at about 90% for the Democratic ticket.
Admirable but that has meant other groups also lacking representation on Circuit courts have been left out and that has led to angry letters from Latino/LGBT/Asian groups etc. about how they haven’t gotten representation on circuit courts.
Sad to say, there really is no way to make up for the lack of judicial representation for different groups in a few years although Biden has done a good job.
I will say that for the last few Circuit court nominees left, it would behoove Biden/Schumer to ensure one of them is a Black man to make up for what happened with Wamble as well as a Latino/A.
All my option of course.
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@Zack Jones
Yea I agree. As upset as I am about Wamble, Childs & Pan, I have to say overall Biden has still done an outstanding job overall in regard to judges. But yes, we still have five circuit court vacancies without a nominee as well as more to come over the next year & a half. I appreciate all he has done to put Black woman on the courts but certainly hope we get some more Black men, Hispanics & AAPI nominees by the end of his term.
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I want to see one more gay Circuit court judge myself, as Patrick Bumatay being the only gay male on a circuit court doesn’t sit well with me given that he’s a right wing hack posing as a judge.
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Todd M. Hughes is still active. But even still another one or two LGBT circuit court judges would be good as well. Perhaps kill two birds with one stone & nominate one that is either a Black man or Hispanic.
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Ha, you beat me to it.
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It should be noted that Todd M. Hughes (on the Federal Circuit) is also gay.
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I do think Biden has done a very good job with judges, especially considering the narrow senate majority in hyper partsian times….But some of the long standing vacancies on the circuit courts are frustrating..
The truth is, while we on this board care deeply about judges, whether or not Biden gets a 2nd term (assuming he’s running) will largely depend on economy, perhaps Ukraine, who his opponent is ..Judges excite the base, but not many voters….Some of Biden’s legislative accomplishments are excellent (PACT ACT, Infrastructure bill, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act) and he will hopefully remind voters of those accomplishments during campaign season next year
I’ve tried to post on other political boards about judicial nominees, or send emails to people at work into politics, and I get the same reply – BLAH….People act like I’m the teacher in “Ferris Buhler’s Day Off” when i talk about judges, even though it is so important as to who sits on the courts
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@Rick
Haaaaa… Don’t let that stop you. Keep trying. But yes all those things you mentioned are gonna be important to the non-daily judicial watchers like most of us on this site. I will say I’ve seen judges in the mainstream media more over the past few years than any other time in my life so hopefully more than just the base is starting to care & realize how important the judiciary is.
I always suspected it would take people getting their rights taken away for them to care. We have reached that point now.
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With Khan getting her confirmation vote in the next 48 hours replacing José A. Cabranes, who will be the most conservative circuit court judge appointed by a Democrat starting next week? I have a guess but wanted to see who everybody else thought.
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Here are my thoughts — any one of these:
1st Cir: Gelpi
3rd Cir: Restrepo
4th Cir: Diaz
9th Cir: Gould, Rawlinson, Owens
11th Cir: Jordan
DC Cir: Childs
I’m gonna guess that you think it’s J Michelle Childs?
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Haaaaa… I actually had Childs third starting next week. I had Diaz first because I believe he basically leaned to the right when he was picked but with blue slips still in play back then it was worth the compromise with him being Hispanic. I put Gould second. I may change third place to Gelpi based on his current trajectory but for now I’ll keep Childs third. It’s horrible Biden passed up on so many better picks in PR for a GW Bush appointee…smh
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DOH on missing Todd Hughes, though I will admit I don’t pay attention to the Federal Circuit as much as regular circuit courts.
As to the importance of federal courts, I stand by my belief that if the Democratic base had cared about the SCOTUS vacancy back in 2016 as much as the Republican base did, Hillary would have been declared the winner by 8 P.M.
One side cared about the SCOTUS vacancy, the other didn’t.
Same goes in Wisconsin.
The Democratic base that showed up to elect Obama twice didn’t turn out for the Wisconsin Supreme Court races which let Republicans run amok there.
Here’s hoping in April they right that wrong.
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Hillary should have come up with a list of people she would have nominated to SCOTUS just like Trump did
In in world prior to 2016, that would have Obama’s seat to fill (after Scalia died in Feb 2016), but that is another story and debate for a another time
Also, HRC got screwed TWICE by Comey’s actions, the first public scolding he gave her when he announced no charges would be filed in July 2016, then when he reopened the email investigation again 12 days or so before the election….Hell, I was riding high in mid-Oct 2016, after the Access Hollywood tape came out, I thought HRC was en route to landslide victory…Didn’t think it was politically possible to survive a scandal of that nature, yet TFG did.
I’m old enough to remember the 1988 election and Michael Dukakis some would say lost the election in the fall when he went to a military base and rode around in a tank w/an oversized helmet on…There was also the Willie Horton thing, but the helmet episode did him no favors..
But still, riding around with a large helmet on is in my view, FAR less severe than what was on those Access Hollywood tapes
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I remember seeing a Facebook meme with the picture being a screenshot of when Trump was at one of his rallies making fun of a disabled person. The caption read “I will never for the life of me understand why this wasn’t enough”.
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Trump was our punishment for Obama!
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The final straw that broke Dukakis was when Bernie Shaw from CNN asked him what would he do if someone raped and killed his wife.
He gave a wimpy answer that killed his campaign.
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@Rick
You forgot to mention Willie Horton, who’s forgotten now but became a national celebrity in 1988. There was a huge crime wave back then, even worse than the current one, and the Bush campaign capitalized on it.
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More then once, Hillary talked about the dangers of what could happen to SCOTUS if Trump won and certain parts of the Democratic base blew her off because many folks refused to believe SCOTUS would overturn Roe V Wade or some of the other things they’ve done.
I think most folks have woken up but too little too late in regards to SCOTUS sad to say.
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Wow. The plot thickens. Did someone already share this article? I just came across it online. This is still a mystery but, with this article, we have a slightly better understanding.
@Aagren, looks like your theory about Marshall is wrong. If he’s to be believed, he’s in the dark on this nomination as much as we are.
So, as I see it, one senator (Marshall) doesn’t know what’s going on, which means he did NOT torpedo the nomination. Marshall said he’s reserving judgement until the ABA issues its rating on Wamble.
The other senator is still a supporter, so this suggests he did not “negotiate” Wamble down to a district court level.
One *theory* is the White House was tipped off on a poor ABA rating (something less than unanimous WQ). This theory holds that the WH reconsidered the nomination, judging that it wouldn’t be worth forcing it through the confirmation process. This is possible, but I don’t see how someone with that much experience can get anything other than a WQ rating. **Unless the lower rating isn’t based on qualification but on professionalism (did Wamble throw a stapler at a staff?).
At any rate, it seems to me that this mess is really in the White House’s court. And since Wamble fell through, don’t expect a new nominee anytime soon. The WH team is now probably extremely gun-shy and will move even slower on future nominations.
Here’s the article:
https://amp.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article272570240.html
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@Gavi
Yea we takes about this article last Wednesday. Some variations of opinions on the blog but pretty much universal that the situation is a mess.
On a high note, happy the senate is back in session for five weeks Monday everybody.
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Representative Clyburn flexing his clout again. First Childs to the DC circuit & close (too close in my opinion) to the SCOTUS. Then judge Benjamin gets put on the 4th circuit. Now her husband gets this….
(https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/27/president-biden-announces-former-mayor-stephen-benjamin-as-senior-advisor-and-director-of-the-office-of-public-engagement/)
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KLB served even less time then Cedric Richmond in that position, but I understand as a mother that being away from her minor children & family must’ve been hard. Definitely another step-up & more name recognition for Benjamin’s husband.
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Judiciary Committee finally updated their member info and a new interface too.
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https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1630292945919254531?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
This is why as leery as some of us are with younger judges sometimes leaving the bench, it’s still better to go with them versus older nominees.
This ruling is a direct consequence of two older Obama judges being put on the 2nd Circuit in their mid 50’s and choosing to take senior status the minute they were eligible to do so, the consequences of that choice be darned.
And that consequence is going to be that the 2nd Circuit is now far more conservative then it used to be, which is why getting Maria Kahn on there matters all the more, as she will tip the scales back in our favor.
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@Zack Jones
Those who think Democrats nominating older judges while Republicans stack the courts with conservatives in their 40’s & even 30’s, is exactly the reason why we have the courts we have today. If the argument is specific younger judge is not qualified, then the argument should be made for that nominee.
But the notion that you have two qualified progressives to choose one, one being near 60 & the other in their 40’s so pick the older one, is ludicrous. Republicans get this. Thankfully Democrats are finally getting it too but seems like we have a way to go still.
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Those Obama appointed Judges were highly qualified & worthy of being elevated in their 50’s, and certainly they deserve to take Senior Status whenever they’re eligible to. Some Judges do have a life & want to go out & enjoy it after years of dedicated public service, while others don’t.
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Exactly. While there may be many qualified judges, there is always a most qualified judge. Maybe the 40 year old progressive is qualified be on a certain court, but if the 60 year old is more qualified for it I’d rather see them get the nod.
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They should file a petition for rehearing en banc expeditiously since Judge Kahn would be confirmed this week.
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Schumer just started speaking. Let’s hope he sends some cloture motions to the desk.
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Yep he filed for Gallagher, Lawless, Grey and Simmons. Continuing with the easier confirmations for now it seems.
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My God, he’s gotta run out of easy confirmations at some point.
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I will say it will be good to get Jonathan Grey confirmed. He’s a possible 6th circuit possibility as a Black man in his low 40’s. James Simmons Jr. is in the same category, albeit neither are extremely progressive. But I would fine to see either elevated if it was in the next few years or so.
On another note, I was watching the senate floor video. It looked like senator Grassley was using a walking cane. I don’t think I’ve seen him regularly using one ever before. Even the oldest Republican that can barely walk shows up to work every day. I look forward to senator Fetterman getting well soon & returning to the senate. Maybe we can get a stretch of all 51 Democrats being a bel to work for a month or so at least so we can get the heavy hitters confirmed.
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@Ben
It’s logical to emphasize the least controversial nominees. He has a very thin majority and one of his members is hospitalized.
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@Dequan yup.
I will say in the case of Maria Kahn, I’m almost certain she was nominated due to the fact it was likely Cabranes would have taken back his senior status if a young liberal progressive had been nominated to replace him.
In that case you grit your teeth and make the deal.
In other cases..nope.
If Stephen Six is the nominee for the 10th Circuit vacancy….urrgg.
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Stephen Six was acceptable when nominated by Obama a decade ago but damn sure not now with no blue slips. Especially not as a replacement for Wamble. I would say the same thing about Salas for the 3rd circuit, but I’ll give her a pass since she’s Latina, a former public defender & lost her son because of her service. She’s the only person I could see giving a high grade to for a circuit court seat older than 55.
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Salas is actually only 54 I believe. The NJ senators have done a lot worse, so I’ll be OK with her getting promoted.
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What is going on with the Kahn nomination? There are 5-6 scheduled votes tomorrow but none of them involve confirming Kahn.
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I was thinking the same thing. Khan should be able to get at least 3 Republican votes. Hell for this Biden mine as well had nominated Cristina Rodriguez or Justin Driver. Looks like Cabrenas will continue being a conservative in the 2nd circuit a little longer.
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I thought Kahn would have been set up for a confirmation vote by now.
Maybe they want to confirm some district court judges first and get them out of the way?
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I still don’t understand the one vote Monday’s. Like can’t they at least vote twice? This is why I keep saying there is not a lot of time until the end of next year for the senate. We are counting Monday’s, but they only have one vote. And Thursday’s they are out of their by around 3pm. They could have confirmed Khan tonight & gotten the most conservative circuit court Democrat appointee off the bench, but I guess it’s more important to go home & watch Seinfeld re-runs.
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I keep reminding you that short of a unanimous consent, you need *two* days post-cloture to vote on noms, so Khan could not have been confirmed tonight.
Cloture was invoked on February 16, then the senate adjourned until today. That makes only one day.
Khan is eligible for confirmation one hour after the senate gavels in tomorrow, the second post-cloture calendar day.
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Pro forma days don’t count at all for post cloture time? If the senate gavels Thursday & they aren’t back in session until Monday at 3pm, doesn’t one of those days need to be pro forma? Unless they don’t count Sunday’s which is possible of course. I hate all these senate backroom rules… Lol
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Pro forma sessions do not count. Modern date pro forma sessions are just to prevent the president from making recess appointments and to bypass adjournment resolution with the House.
And no, there need not be a pro forma session between a Thursday and Monday. Welcome to the headache that is “legislative days.”
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Ok got it. Thanks for the explanation
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An unanimous consent agreement was already reached to consider all post-cloture time on the Kahn nomination expired, and the confirmation vote will be TBD by Schumer.
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-169/issue-32/senate-section/article/S451-1
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Was looking up the prior confirmations for this year and it looks like they took place two days after cloture was invoked on them.
So by Wednesday Kahn should be confirmed.
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@Zack Jones That’s literally what I said earlier above, except your count is wrong. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the two-day mark for the Khan nomination. That, of course, doesn’t mean she can’t be confirmed at a latter date.
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