An accomplished litigator who has served the Cherokee Nation in multiple capacities, Sara Hill has been tapped for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Background
Sara E. Hill received a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Northeastern State University in 2000 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 2003. She then joined the Cherokee Nation as a deputy attorney general. In 2015, Hill was appointed to be the Secretary of Natural Resources for the Cherokee Nation, and in 2019, she was appointed to be Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation. She held that position until returning to private practice a couple of months ago.
History of the Seat
Hill has been nominated to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma vacated by Judge Claire Eagan, who took senior status on October 1, 2022.
Political Activity
Hill has made a handful of political donations throughout her career, all to Democrats, including to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Legal Experience
Hill started her legal career as a Deputy Attorney General with the Cherokee Nation Attorney General’s Office (the Cherokee Nation being one of the largest federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma). In one of the most notable cases she handled during her time in this role, Hill represented the Nation in seeking to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the state of Oklahoma against Tyson Foods, alleging improper pollution in the Illinois River Watershed. See Oklahoma ex rel. Edmondson v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 619 F.3d 1223 (10th Cir. 2010). However, the district judge denied the Nation’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit finding it untimely, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed. See id.
Between 2015 and 2019, Hill served as the Secretary of Natural Resources for the Cherokee Nation and in 2019, became the Nation’s Attorney General. Hill’s tenure coincided with a number of notable Supreme Court decisions on Indian law, including its famous ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma that dramatically expanded the jurisdiction of tribal courts. See 140 S. Ct. 2452 (2020). McGirt upended many convictions in Oklahoma, which were retroactively challenged for lack of jurisdiction. See, e.g., Spears v. State, 485 P.3d 873 (Okla. Ct. Crim. App. 2021) (finding that Oklahoma lacked jurisdiction to prosecute Defendant convicted of First Degree Murder). The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals eventually found that McGirt did not require wholesale retroactive application. See State ex rel. Matloff v. Wallace, 497 P.3d 686 (Okla. Ct. Crim. App. 2021).
In other matters, Hill represented the Nation in a successful suit against the State of Oklahoma in finding that the legislature renewed the Nation’s compact to handle gaming activities for fifteen years. See Cherokee Nation v. Stitt, 475 F. Supp. 3d 1277 (W.D. Okla. 2020). Hill also represented the Nation in a suit against Lexington Insurance seeking recovery for economic losses suffered as the result of the Covid-19 pandemic. See Cherokee Nation v. Lexington Insurance Co., 521 P.3d 1261 (Okla. 2022).
Writings and Statements
In her time as Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation, Hill has occasionally commented on developments in the law, particularly as it relates to Indian tribes. For example, Hill was sharply critical of the Supreme Court’s decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta holding that Oklahoma had concurrent authority to prosecute crimes in Indian country. See Chad Hunter, SCOTUS Hands Down ‘Terrible’ Jurisdiction Decision, AG Says, Cherokee Phoenix, Jul. 13, 2022, https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/news/scotus-hands-down-terrible-jurisdiction-decision-ag-says/article_58095620-02af-11ed-884d-7ff719d7680f.html. While Hill called the decision “heartbreaking”, she added “We get good decisions. We get bad decisions. But our obligations to our citizens don’t change.” See id. (quoting Sara Hill).
Overall Assessment
Despite her youth, Sara Hill brings to the federal bench both extensive legal experience and deep Oklahoma ties. Notably, in a state defined by its strong Native American heritage, Oklahoma has not seen the appointment of a federal judge with Native American heritage since Judge Michael Burrage in 1994. Despite some criticism that Hill has gotten from Gov. Kevin Stitt (whom she nominally (and successfully) sued in Cherokee Nation v. Stitt), Hill has received the support of her home state senators. As long as she maintains that support, she should be confirmed comfortably.
The Vetting Room 
Just want to say I think today’s batch of nominees is wonderful. Two great circuit court nominees, two red state district nominees, and a 5th district nominee from Oregon.
I must say, between these last three batches the WH has really impressed me. Hope they keep up the momentum in 2024.
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Agreed.
Not to be greedy, but I’m a bit surprised we still haven’t seen a nominee for the Wisconsin seat. Baldwin and Johnson sent their recommendations in June.
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Oh yeah, proves how much difference a change at the top of the White House Counsel’s office can make.
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It’s a different operation now. We no longer have the White House Chief of Staff with judicial nominations in his portfolio.
There was no “middle man” or “red tape” when Klain was there because he was in charge of everything in the White House.
We now are under a usual and customary system of the White House Counsel. It’s no longer all hands on deck. I think he is doing well.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually got a Wisconsin nominee. Of course I also wouldn’t be surprised if Ron Johnson came up with some pretense not to turn his blue slip in again.
Other potential red state seats I’m looking at:
WD NC (2) – a name was floated several months ago, perhaps something can be worked out.
WD LA – Kennedy and Cassidy have made several nominees already
Texas (7) – 7 vacancies without a nominee, Cornyn and Cruz are supposedly making recommendations for the 3 El Paso seats soon
ND OH – Don’t see much hope here
WD TN – Possibly see a nominee in a deal for the 6th circuit seat
ED Wisconsin – Baldwin and Johnson have made recommendations
SD Indiana – Braun/Young have made several nominations already
WD Arkansas – Don’t see much hope here
ED Missouri (4) – Don’t see much hope here either but 4 vacancies is a lot. Maybe we get 1 or 2.
Nebraska – Not holding my breath
South Dakota (2) – Not holding my breath either, it’s been 2+ years with no movement on one of these.
Alaska – I don’t think Sullivan is serious about filling this vacancy
Kansas – Don’t see much hope here, but Marshall/Moran did work with the WH on the 10th circuit so maybe
Utah – Don’t see it
Wyoming – Don’t see it
Alabama – No chance.
FL (3) – I suspect we won’t see any additional nominees at least until after the election. I’d love to be wrong.
Maine – Strong chance we see a solid nominee
Montana – Don’t see it happening given how Daines reacted to A Johnstone.
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I think the best hope for the Ohio and North Carolina, would be if Karen Nelson Moore (who turns 75 on Sunday) and James Andrew Wynn go senior and they can negotiate a deal.
With today’s nominations, we only have the 6th Circuit w/o a nominee so here’s hoping we see a few more older Circuit judges announce soon.
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TBH, I don’t know why Daines reacted the way he did to Johnstone’s nomination. To me, Johnstone seems pretty moderate considering the his background and the way he took questions in his SCJ hearing. I don’t know what nominee Daines would give his blue slip for considering that he didn’t do it for Johnstone.
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Even if they don’t get nominated, here are some people I think are uncontroversial enough to get the approval of most Republican Senators, even if not the ones from their respective state:
Northern District of Ohio: Magistrate Judges James Grimes (born c. 1970), Amanda Knapp (born c. 1977) and Jennifer Dowdell Armstrong (born c. 1975) with Grimes being the most likely.
Eastern District of Missouri: Magistrate Judges Noelle Collins (born c. 1971), Rodney Holmes (born c. 1972), and Stephen Welby (born c. 1965).
Nebraska: Cline Williams Partner Andre Barry (born c. 1973). He’s pretty conventional but did make one donation to Obama in 2008.
Kansas: Magistrate Judge Angel Mitchell (born c. 1974) or AUSA Carrie Capwell (born c. 1972).
Utah: Utah Court of Appeals Judge Amy Oliver (born c. 1973) or Utah State Court Judge Cristina Ortega (born c. 1976).
Wyoming: Magistrate Judges Stephanie Hambrick (born c. 1969) and Kelly Rankin (born c. 1967).
*note: Rankin is a man.
Montana: AUSAs Randy Tanner (born c. 1979) and Tim Tatarka (born c. 1978).
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Outstanding nominees for the Circuit Courts.
Expect to see fireworks not just with Adeel Mangi but Nicole Berner as well, not just because of her ties with Planned Parenthood but because her wife represented the woman that accused now Justice Kavanaugh of assault.
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Outstanding nominees for the Circuit Courts.
Expect to see fireworks not just with Adeel Mangi but Nicole Berner as well, not just because of her ties with Planned Parenthood but because her wife represented the woman that accused now Justice Kavanaugh of assault.
Be an interesting start to the New Year.
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Did some more back of the napkin math, and if the senate is able to confirm every current Biden nominee (minus Colom) that would be 192 Article III judges (1 SC, 43 appellate, 146 district, and 2 International Trade).
Additionally, if the WH names and the senate confirms a nominee for every current circuit/blue state vacancy that number shoots up to 211.
6th Circuit
Rhode Island
Vermont
SD NY
ED PA
MD PA
WD VA
Maryland
ED MI
CD IL
ND IL
CD CA
SD CA
ED CA
ND CA
Arizona
Arizona
Arizona
District DC
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A new batch, a new post from Harsh & a SJC hearing… This is too much but I’ll take it… Haaaaaa
Here are my grades for each Article III nominees below. As a side note it’s great to also see three new DC Superior Court nominees as well;
Nicole G. Berner (c. 1966) – She is the one of the ONLY exceptions I can give an A+ to despite being older than 55. My God, General Counsel to the (SEIU), staff attorney for Planned Parenthood, is on the board of directors for the American Constitution Society, defended the ACA, made briefs for the Defense of Marriage Act & is LGBT. I tried to justify lowering my grade for her because of her age but I can’t, I just can’t. If she’s not an A+, who is???… A+
Adeel A. Mangi (c. 1976) – He has a very progressive background & pro bono portfolio. This is a great choice for the first Muslim circuit court nominee… A+
Amy M. Baggio (c. 1973) – Over 10 years of federal defender work. I believe Kevin Diaz or Nadia Dahab would have been better choices but she is still a good choice… A-
Cristal C. Brisco (c. 1980) – A Black woman that worked under Pete Buttigieg when he was mayor… B
Gretchen S. Lund (c. 1976) – I couldn’t find much else on her that wasn’t listed on the White House bio… C+
This is the best batch we have seen since the election last year.
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Lund is a registered Republican. Hoping she’s a moderate. I guess that’s the tradeoff for Brisco and the Circuit nom.
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Also I think Nicole G. Berner was definitely the White House’s pick & not Cardin’s. At the end of her bio it says “She is a resident of Takoma Park, Maryland.” no other nominee on this morning’s announcement or any of the other batches that I can remember says they live in the state they were nominated for. So I’m happy The White House won. I can’t imagine what bland prosecutor Cardin wanted.
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Wow, Berner is truly a dream nominee – much better than a former prosecutor or Big Law even accounting for her age. She’s only the second labor lawyer Biden has nominated after Sung on CA9, and she’s better than what I was expecting from Cardin given the long wait. The press release from the MD senators also includes an interesting/unusual comment from Cardin about Berner committing to having her chambers in Baltimore even though she lives in the DC suburbs – seems to confirm that Cardin wanted someone with stronger ties to the state than just a DC lawyer living in its suburbs, which is a ridiculous reason to have risked leaving this seat vacant had R’s won the senate in 2022. Thank god he’s retiring, and let’s hope Alsobrooks or whoever replaces him is more sensible.
https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-cardin-praise-biden-nominee-nicole-berner-for-us-court-of-appeals-for-4th-circuit-maryland-seat
Mangi honestly shouldn’t be controversial given that he’s been a Big Law lawyer his whole career and just done some pro bono work on the side. I’m sure the likes of Cruz and Blackburn will be apoplectic about the first Muslim COA judge (I hope Mangi has responses prepared to the inevitable Israel-Palestine questions he’ll get even though international relations has nothing to do with the judiciary), but perhaps Manchin/Collins//Graham will be less racist.
Now just the CA6 vacancy left among the appellate courts (unless any other judges go senior, which seems unlikely). Not expecting anyone particularly progressive, but I’ll be fine as long as they fill the seat. I get that not every district court vacancy can be filled before 2024, but under no circumstances should Dems be leaving any circuit vacancies given their long odds in holding the senate.
Hill is a great nominee – could see her being the first Native COA judge if Bacharach (or less likely, Holmes) goes senior under a Dem president/senate. I’d love to see a Native COA judge before 2024, but unless Wardlaw or Gould go senior and open up a vacancy for Sunshine Sykes or Lauren King (I don’t get why Wardlaw in particular still hasn’t gone senior), that seems unlikely.
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I wouldn’t say future vacancies are unlikely. In fact, I would lean towards there being at least 1 or 2 over the next 9-12 months. We’ve had 3 new vacancies in the past year.
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In case anyone’s interested, I pulled together info around when recent Circuit Judges announced their intent to go Senior Status/resign. We had a lot of activity at the beginning of Biden’s term but it also looks like there was an influx at the end of ’21 and the beginning of ’22. Maybe judges trying to get in ahead of the midterm. Maybe we’ll see some increased activity ahead of the election.
2020 Nov – 1 : Flaum (7)
2020 Dec – 0
2021 Jan – 2 : Katzmann (2), Chin (2)
2021 Feb – 5 : Lucero (10), Briscoe (10), Tatel (DC), Graber (9), Keen (4)
2021 Mar – 2 : Hall (2), Wallach (Fed)
2021 Apr – 1 : Berzon (9)
2021 May – 4 : Paez (9), Dennis (5), Fletcher (9), Martin (11)
2021 Jun – 1 : Donald (6)
2021 Jul- 2 : Thompson (1), O’Malley (Fed)
2021 Aug- 1 : McKee (3)
2021 Sep – 0
2021 Oct – 3 : Floyd (4), Pooler (2), Cabranes (2)
2021 Nov – 1 : Carney (2)
2021 Dec – 7 : Hamilton (7), Cole (6), Smith (3), Wood (7), White (6), Ambro (3), Gribbon Motz (4)
2022 Jan – 4 : McKeown (9), Howard (1), Costa (5)
2022 Feb – 1 : Hurwitz (9)
2022 Mar – 2 : Lynch (1), Thomas (9)
*****
2022 Jun – 1 : Rogers (DC)
******
2023 Feb – 1 : Greenaway (3)
****
2023 May – 1 : Watford (9)
BTW- I didn’t include seats vacated due to death or elevation.
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Fair enough – fingers crossed there will be one or two unexpected vacancies like with Gibbons. I wouldn’t hold my breath though, since other than Rovner, Hartz, and M. Smith (all of whom seem unlikely to ever willingly go senior), the senior-eligible Republican appointees are pretty conservative. Also, McConnell made it clear in 2014-16 that a Republican senate will not confirm Dem nominees to the circuits (unless a Republican senator strongly backs the nominee like with Toomey and Restrepo).
As a result, it’s unlikely that there will be more than a couple vacancies. The more liberal judges who would care about having a Dem-appointed successor have already gone senior. The remaining Dem appointees are either moderate enough that they don’t care about Biden appointing their successor (Gould and Wilson) or are liberal but I guess value their en banc vote too much to go senior, (Moore, Clay, and Wardlaw, but probably most of the others).
On another note, it’s interesting that House Dems are advocating for more nominees with an antitrust background: https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1766807/house-dems-seek-judicial-noms-with-antitrust-background. Diane Wood is the only Dem appointee I can think of with much pre-bench expertise in antitrust law (labor law is different, so I wouldn’t count Berzon/Sung/Berner).
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Hopefully some judges will take notice!
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I wonder how many Republican appointed judges would be willing to let Biden replace them if there were also a Republican Senate to ensure the nominee isn’t too liberal for them.
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That’s honestly an interesting question. I remember that someone on the block mentioned there was a possibility that Joel Flaum (7th CCA) attempted to do that, because he he announced his intent to assume senior status, Biden was clearly in the lead electorally, but the Senate control was yet to be determined.
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@CJ,
Looking at you James Loken, Harris Hartz, Kent Jordan, Richard Griffin, and Ralph Erickson.
Rovner seems like she wants to die on the bench.
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If they don’t confirm 10-15 judges between now and the end of the year, I have very little hope or expectation they’ll confirm all these nominees before the end of next year. Especially as these never ending continuing resolutions to fund the government mean every 3 months the senate spends a week passing a budget that the House laughs and throws in the trash.
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To @Mike’s point, the senate really needs a vote-a-rama before they leave for the end of this year. Even if it’s just for all of the red state nominees, International Trade Court & DC Superior Court. Mike is right about the senate spending their 3 day work week on budget resolutions & I see no signs of a long term budget deal being reached by THIS Houde.
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Excluding DC judges (we also got three new superior court nominees today), the senate’s confirmed 42 judges in 2021, 58 in 2022, 59 so far this year, and it would be a big surprise if they didn’t add ~12 to that total in December. As of now, there are 68 vacancies that can reasonably be expected to be filled (7 circuit, 30 district nominees minus Colom, 19 district vacancies without GOP input plus Maine, 2 IT, 3 territorial, 1 claims, 6 tax) plus 35 other district vacancies with GOP input that are effectively bonus if filled in this era. That total should be down to the mid-to-upper 50s by the end of the year (barring an influx of nominees in GOP states), with a disproportionate number among them having a chance to be voice votes.
As for currently unpredicted vacancies adding to that total, a total of only 14 vacancies occurred from November 2019 and December 2020 that were unknown as of November 1, 2019:
1 SCOTUS, filled
4 circuit, 2 filled, 2 unfilled
6 district in GOP states: 4 filled, 2 unfilled
3 district in Dem states: 3 unfilled
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A vote-a-rama is definitely needed, I agree on that. Particularly if this 60 day CR happens and the budget can be punted to January/February.
The senate is set to adjourn on Dec 14, so no reason Schumer can’t threaten to stay in another week and force votes on all of the outstanding district nominees. There are currently 3 circuit and 14 district nominees (16 with Lee and Kasubhai) currently on the senate floor, and I think that’s a reasonable goal before the end of the year. I think we’ll get a good hint on their intentions at the close of business tomorrow.
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The senate should be able to zip thru District Court nominees as they only have the 2-hr window from cloture to final floor vote.
I still believe it should be business as usual til about July 2024. Then we’ll have the August recess, probably only in 2 weeks in Sept, out all Oct.
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I do not believe THIS senate can ZIP through anything. I trust users on this blog more then I trust them to schedule votes appropriately. No business before the senate Tuesday allowing Republicans to force tough votes, no cloture motions sent yesterday to set up votes Thursday so the post cloture time can ripen over the Thanksgiving recess & Schumer going back on his word to call up individual votes on the military which translates to Tuberville winning.
And I read the users post above saying Schumer should threaten to hold the senate in session unless they agree to a vote-a-rama before the end of the year. The problem is that threat has no teeth to it because the Republicans know it’s an empty threat. Schumer didn’t cancel one minute of a 5-week summer recess this year. He not only didn’t cancel any of the summer recess last year, but he ADDED virtually the entire month of October off as well during a time when polls showed Republicans very well could have taken over the senate majority.
Schumer threatening to cancel any recess time is a complete joke & the Republicans know it. I’m not an ambler but if I had to place a bet, my money would always go on more recess time being taken by this senate then less. The rare & possible ONLY exception would be a SCOTUS vacancy & even then it’s an even bet.
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So here are all the Democrat appointed circuit judges eligible for senior status currently and/ or before the end of Biden’s term. Let me know your thoughts on the chances of each of them going senior.
Appointed by Clinton:
-Roger Gregory (4th circuit).
-Robert Bruce King (4th circuit): We know he already renounced.
-Carl Stewart (5th circuit).
-Eric Clay (6th circuit).
-Karen Nelson Moore (6th circuit).
-Ronald Gould (9th circuit).
-Johnnie Rawlinson (9th circuit): It’s rumored that she wants to choose her successor. Supposedly she wants Berna Rhodes-Ford, her former clerk who currently serves as General Counsel of Nevada State University and is also the wife of Nevada AG Aaron Ford.
-Kim McLane Wardlaw (9th circuit)..
-Charles R. Wilson (11th circuit)
-Timothy Dyk (Federal Circuit).
Appointed by Obama:
-William Kayatta (1st circuit).
-James A. Wynn Jr. (4th circuit).
-James E. Graves Jr. (5th circuit).
-Jane Branstetter Stranch (6th circuit).
-Scott Matheson (10th circuit).
-Jimmie Reyna (Federal Circuit).
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NO CHANCE for the 5th Circuit, because they don’t trust the Red State Senators.
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We have already had two 5th circuit vacancies in Biden’s first three years. What do you mean no chance? There’s been more vacancies under Biden on the 5th then 2 of the other 12 circuit courts… Lol
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Alas Ethan, none of the Republican jurists you mentioned are going to take senior status under a Democratic President and Senate if they can help it.
Rovner surprises me, as she is easily the most liberal Republican on the bench today but it appears as with Jose Cabranes, she is going to stay loyal to the party that appointed her and stay on the bench rather then let the seat flip.
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@Zack Jones,
You never know. I really don’t they’re any less likely than Gibbons was.
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Roger Gregory seems likely to me. His term as Chief Judge just ended a few months ago coinciding with his 70th bday. His work anniversary is in December. The vibes feel right.
William Kayatta also jumps out. He just reached eligibility on Oct 27. Most of his colleagues on that court have already turned over and the NH seat headache seems to be near resolution. Collins and King are already looking for someone to fill the Maine District seat so might be a good time to go senior since they’re already ramping up their search committee.
Several of these Judges have milestone birthdays coming up. Karen Nelson Moore turns 75 this upcoming Sunday. James Wynn turns 70 in March. Kim McLane Wardlaw turns 70 in July. Could be a good time to transition.
I know that Robert Bruce King wants Carte Goodwin to succeed him, but Manchin wanted to appoint a family friend. I wonder if there’s some sort of deal that can be brokered to get Carte’s uncle, Judge Joseph Goodwin, to take senior status so that Manchin’s family friend can replace him and Carte could replace King.
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As much as I hate the idea of promising seats I think I’d absolutely do it for the WV and NV seats. Circuit court seats are just too important to potentially lose
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I’m not necessarily against deals with the sitting judge to name their replacement as long as it meets two requirements. One, it needs to be a backroom deal. It can’t be made public. And second, it has to be a good nominee.
If King promised to step down if he was replaced by an Independent or Republican, I would tell him no. But Goodwin was my personal first choice. Not only because he was a good pick, but also because we probably would have gotten a 2 for 1 deal. His relative on the district court is eligible for senior status. In all likelihood, he would have retired shortly after confirmation so Bidne would have gotten two vacancies in one similar to when he picked Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the 7th. Of course, the most famous scenario of this happening was the seat that became vacant that went to Thurgood Marshall.
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I agree with that Dequan.
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Thankfully we did get new nominees as expected today. When we get the next batch probably depends on the Senate 2024 calendar. The House already released their 2024 calendar, but not the Senate.
The second session of the 118th Congress will likely convene when they get back from the holidays on Wednesday, 1/3. They COULD get back on Tuesday, the 2nd, but I wouldn’t put too much stock into that. I don’t think there’d be any hearings for this date since it’ll likely be a day that they re-convene and not much else. I believe any nomination not confirmed by the end of the year would need to be re-nominated by the President, and the Senate would likely receive these nominees on the third and not much else.
When the next hearing happens depends on the schedule after. There could be a hearing on 1/10, in which the deadline for those nominees would be 12/13. There’s also the possibility that the Senate comes back on the third and then takes another extended break like this year, in which they certainly wouldn’t be back until after MLK week (MLK is the week of 1/15, they’ll likely have that whole week off regardless). In that case, the next hearing after 12/13 may not happen until 1/24, which would have a 12/27 deadline.
In summary, I’d put 12/13 as a date to watch for nominees, and 12/27, but again, a lot depends on the Senate 2024 calendar.
In terms of unconfirmed nominees needing to be re-nominated, would they need to be held over in the 2nd session? I know it’s a little different since it’s within the same Congress, or if the SJC could immediately vote on them at their first meeting of 2024 (depending on the calendar, could be 1/4, 1/11, or 1/25, assuming they have MLK week off).
Just also looked at the 2022 calendar, which would be a similar point for this coming January, they only had MLK week off, so maybe they won’t be out most of the month?
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TSB, thank you for that write up. Yes, they would likely all need to be held over again.
It would be very good if the senate came back for that week before MLK day just to hold a hearing, and begin the process all over again
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Sherriff’s nomination is finally in
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A day late & a dollar short…smh
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I guess that Ben Cardin relented to the White House. Nicole Berner has not lived in Maryland for very long. Adeel A. Mangi doesn’t seem to have strong New Jersey roots, either.
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Cardin made sure he threw Berner had committed to making sure her chambers will be in Baltimore once confirmed when he released his statement of approval today. I guess the long wait was her to probably move to Maryland & then promise to be in the duty station he requested.
Absolutely no reason to play Russian Roulette with a circuit court seat. Particularly when the Republicans had a 50/50 chance to take over the majority last year. If it wasn’t for Menendez, Cardin would be my least favorite senator along with Manchin & Sinema. All four will hopefully be out of the senate in 14 months.
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Cristal Brisco is a Democrat, but she was appointed to her current post by a Republican Governor. Democrats are badly outnumbered in the state legislature, so I wonder why she was appointed?
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SJC Business meeting canceled tomorrow.
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Meeting cancelled? WTF… What happened, Durbin twist an ankle jumping for joy he got two more Republican blue slips from today’s announcement???
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Doesn’t really matter with all of the already pending nominees.
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My guess is that with nothing really slated for the whole Senate tomorrow, they’ll probably start their Thanksgiving break early and skip town once they’re finished voting on everything tonight. If that’s the case, any cloture motions sent to the desk would be sent before they wrap up tonight, so I’d be on the lookout today.
When they get back, they’ll be a hearing on the 29th, hopefully with all of the red state nominees from the first. Also, for the business meeting on the 30th, in addition to Kasubhai and Lee needing to be voted out again, the nominees from the 11/1 hearing that were set to be held over tomorrow should hopefully be considered held over as we’ve seen several times this year, setting them up for a vote. Hopefully the nominees from today will have their holdover on the 30th.
As for today’s hearings, if I had to guess, Russell and Manglona will probably be voice voted out of committee and hopefully a voice vote by the full Senate, which could allow them to be easily confirmed before the end of the year. Manglona got some pretty soft questions from the Republicans in attendance today and Russell was hardly, if at all questioned. The Republicans had their fire largely set on Hill. I’d be surprised if she was voice voted but she’ll probably get a decent amount of Republican votes, similar to all of the Louisiana district court nominees that have not been voice voted but still got several Republican votes.
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Speaking of the SJC hearing today, with everything going on, I forgot to send my usual recap. I thought Manglona gave one of the best answers I’ve ever heard in a SJC hearing when she was asked (by Grassley I believe) what the senate can do to help her district. She answered, “confirm me”. I literally busted out laughing as did several people in the SJC room to the answer… Lol
I learned one thing today. Senator Lankford said the Oklahoma judges are so backlogged that they have stopped hearing civil cases. They are only hearing criminal cases. That must be the reason the worked in such good faith to get Russell & Hill.
Senator Kennedy gave one of his toughest law exams I’ve ever seen to Sara Hill. She didn’t know the answers to a couple of the questions but was very knowledgeable overall.
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“Confirm me” is a good answer but a better answer would be “give this court Article III status” (thus giving her a lifetime appointment and voiding any need to confirm her since she’s already been confirmed once)
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Haaaaa… Damn your right. Confirm me was great but that would have definitley been a better answer.. Especially after one of her other answers when she said it took her 24 hours from door to door to get to DC… Lol
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One of the Dem senators likely couldn’t make it, and they need full Dem attendance to vote on the subpoenas and two nominees that were sent back.
It really shouldn’t be that hard for the senators to just show up to the SJC meetings for the 10 minutes where they vote – I just thank God Sinema isn’t on it.
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I wonder if one of the Senators had a medical issue?
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It’s past 11pm & the senators are still on the senate floor voting. I assume they are doing an all-night vote-a-rama for the budget resolution. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t cancel tomorrow altogether & start their Thanksgiving vacation early. If we don’t get a long term resolution in January or February, we can expect another week wasted on the budget then & at least another time before the election.
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I’m fairly satisfied with the Senate’s work this November. Of course they could do better, but they deserve credit for:
-Confirming 6 judges in a span of 7 days (including confirming de Alba, who would be a tie vote in the full senate, before Tim Scott was able to make it back to DC & with 6 other Republicans out for various reasons). I’m particularly happy that 3 of the 6 judges confirmed in the past 2 weeks are of California (I’m a California resident so I care more about Cali seats than other states). Particularly good timing with de Alba — although Tim Scott ended his campaign Sunday night, he was not yet back when de Alba was confirmed Monday.
-Rejecting the GOP IRS cuts despite knowing they would be seen as having a “vote against Israel” (the GOP wants to cut IRS funding for a program that will help people file taxes for free so that TurboTax can’t get middleman money). I had some fears that they were so pro-Israel that they would approve an Israel package with GOP poison pills attached to it.
-(supposedly) having enough spine to make a serious attempt to stop Tuberville’s blockade. Apparently Kyrsten Sinema & Mark Kelly are working on a backroom deal to try to rectify this.
-swiftly adding Laphonza Butler to the Judiciary Committee, which alleviated fear that the GOP would change their mind (which I have previously said they would if a Supreme Court vacancy arose before Butler were added)
-holding 60 roll call votes in 1 month
Side note unrelated to the judiciary: I will take back this statement if the Senate passes bad internet bills such as KOSA or RESTRICT Act (bad because they infringe on internet privacy) before heading out for thanksgiving break. If they pass the mostly-clean CR and do nothing else, I’m satisfied.
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They got out most of the heavy hitters this past week. There are a lot of red state nominees waiting to be confirmed; if 2 GOP senators turn in their blue slips, that effectively guarantees a nominee 56 votes (all 51 Dems, Collins/Graham/Murkowski, and the 2 home state senators).
Although there are some easy confirmations for district judges, I think that Manchin will oppose one or both of today’s nominated judges. He has opposed 3 of the 4 most recent circuit court judges — Rikelman being the exception.
Berner (4th Cir.) – has enough progressive stuff (Planned Parenthood, supporting unions) that I think all Republicans + Manchin will oppose her.
Mangi (3rd Cir.) – progressive Muslim. I could see Manchin opposing him
I was also going to go through the district judges and see which ones I think Manchin will oppose, but I don’t have time to do that. I think that any nominee advanced by a 11-10 party line vote runs the risk of being opposed by Manchin.
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It’s honestly strange that Manchin voted in favor of every Biden nominee in 2021 – 2022, even the most progressive ones, such as Sung or Myrna Perez, but has voted against several progressives, a couple that aren’t even as liberal as those two in 2023.
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A lot of the nominees that Manchin voted against in 2023 were nominated in 2021 or 2022 but never voted on. He definitely opposed the nominees back then, it just wasn’t publicly known.
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There were also three nominees for Washington D.C. Superior Court.
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Cloture filed on Lewis (DMN), Garnett (SDNY), and a Department of Labor nominee.
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*Bryan, not Lewis lol
Schumer wrapped up and some Republican Senators coming up to talk about the military promotion blockade.
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Schumer’s wrap up cloture motions sent;
Jeffrey Bryan
Margaret Garnett
Jose Javier Rodriguez – Assistant Secretary of Labor
Some ambassadors got voice votes.
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And Schumer said the senate is officially off tomorrow as I previously mentioned.
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I think Schumer’s strategy right now is only to confirm blue state nominees. This may set up a potential vote-a-rama at the end of the year with all red state nominees since they should get little opposition. The senate has confirmed (After Bryan & Garnett after the senate returns) 23 straight blue state district court nominees. I look for that streak to continue until a vote-a-rama can be agreed to.
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I just noticed that on Dec 17, 2021, the Dems had roll call cloture and confirmation votes on 7 district judges: Linda Lopez (SDCA), Jinsook Ohta (SDCA), David H. Urias (NM), Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong (CDCA), Jane M. Beckering (WDMI), Shalina D. Kumar (EDMI), Jennifer L. Thurston (EDMI). That’s 14 votes…and on a Friday. Does anyone know how they were able to get through that many votes in a single day?
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@Keystone
They got that many votes that day & December 18th after midnight additional votes through unanimous consent. Remember there is no rule that they have to wait the 2 hours after a cloture vote to confirmation vote if no senator objects to an immediate vote.
In plain English what usually happens is it’s almost time for the senate to begin their vacation. The majority leader can say the vacation is delayed until they complete votes on any number of items. So if any one of the 100 senators objects & says they don’t mind delaying the start of vacation then it’s up to the majority leader to keep the senate in session to go through the normal 2 hour process for each nominee or to say they will wait until the senate comes back from vacation.
But in that case none of the 100 senators objected to fast tracking the votes so they were able to bypass the 2 hours for each. Usually this is done with less controversial nominees.
That’s what I think Schumer is setting up now. As I mentioned last night after Bryan & Garnett, that will make 23 straight blue state district court nominees confirmed. I think he is saving the red state nominees to attempt a vote-a-rama similar to the one you mentioned that happened December 17 – 18 in 2021. Hopefully it is successful & no senator objects.
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Also helped that half of the potential GOP objectors were already gone.
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Interesting idea. That would make a good deal of sense. Hopefully we make the week after Thanksgiving a full week of confirming nominees.
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Ideally Schumer would go in order of most controversial to least as the end of the year approaches.
Bryant (13-8) and Garnett (12-9) got GOP votes in committee so those should be easy confirmations.
If I were Schumer I’d try to vote on the most controversial nominees in the second half of that week after Thanksgiving. The following were all 11-10 committee votes and seem like prime candidates.
Bjelkengren
Edelman
Gaston
Crews
AliKhan
Mehalchick
Once that group is knocked out you could probably tee up a marathon session with some combination of the following:
Jamel Semper (13-8)
Micah Smith (14-7)
Jerry Edwards (16-5)
Brandon Long (16-5)
John Kazen (voice vote)
The Oklahoma nominees should be ready by then as well so perhaps they can sneak in along with the NMI nominee and the International Trade nominees. Shanlyn Park’s vacancy won’t be opening until October 2024, so I’d bet they likely punt that one until next year.
I’m not quite sure how Ramirez, Kolar, and Federico fit into all this as well, but I’d love it if they could get confirmed prior to the end of the year as well.
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de Alba received her commission yesterday. For the first time ever the 9th circuit has a majority female judges.
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New WDVA recommendation incoming:
https://bluevirginia.us/2023/11/senators-mark-warner-tim-kaine-announce-western-district-of-virginia-judicial-recommendations
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Both of these candidates seem pretty run of the mill and uncontroversial. Whoever gets picked shouldn’t have any issues being confirmed next year.
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Patice Holland (Born c. 1981) is a Black woman.
Jasmine Yoon is AAPI. I can’t find her graduation dates but from her picture she looks to be in her low 40’s, possible high 30’s.
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Ethan’s sheet says that they were both born in 1981.
I’m pretty sure this will be the first POC judge on that court. Also, only the second woman judge.
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I think that Jasmine Yoon would be easier to confirm for western Virginia. She is a corporate lawyer who prosecuted white collar criminals and financial crimes. I see nothing controversial in her record.
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Maybe. But I dislike the “easier to confirm” standard. I’m OK with a pitch confirmation battle that only gets one more Yea vote than NO. As long as it’s for the more liberal nominee that makes it worth the fight.
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@Gavi
Patrice Holland seems to be the more progressive choice. She is Chairwoman of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force at a major law firm. Those three words make Republican heads explode. That may be fun for progressives, but Warner and Kaine prefer low-risk nominees.
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I don’t know if one is more progressive than the other. Odds are they are more closely aligned. As others have said, the fit the mold of what you’d expect from the VA senators.
Assuming that they are both more are less ideologically the same, age is the tiebreaker for me. May the younger get the nomination.
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Sucks that Juval Scott would have been a better pick than both of them plus Robert S. Ballou. I sure wish she could have kept whatever issues she had with whoever she had them with to herself for a couple of years. She surely would have been the pick for the last vacancy had she.
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@Dequan
Re: Juval Scott. Another example for my theory.
Maybe one of these two candidates will surprise us like Toby Heytens.
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Definitely. Toby Heytens has been one of the most OVER whelming Biden judges to date. While I don’t follow post confirmation nearly as much as before they are confirmed, I heard Rossman on the 10th is also in the same category.
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So if my theory is right & Schumer is shooting for confirming all judicial nominees that aren’t from red states either before the end of the year or to set up a potential red state vote-a-rama at the end of the session, I count 13 nominees that either already are or should be pending on the floor after Bryan & Garnett are confirmed & before the end of the three weeks in session after the senate returns from Thanksgiving. If Schumer could just spend one of the finally three weeks just on judges & not other positions, he could knock out half of those 13 easily.
Then spend the second week confirming a mix of judges & other positions. I don’t believe there is any more major items besides confirmations that should take up too much time for the final three weeks, but anybody feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
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Short-term CRs will be a constant pain. And any number of things that could pop up and demand congress’s attention. And as today shows, when the senate does anything remotely productive it feels the need to give itself more time off, because, phew! that was a heavy lift.
Speaking of theories, I think my hypothesis about judicial candidates held up nicely with the new 3rd Circuit nominee. Remember my hypothesis is the longer it takes to name a nominee, the less likely it is that the eventual nominee will be someone obvious and on our radar, like Salas. I am pleased it’s not her.
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@Gavi
Very true. You did say that & I am super relieved Salas or Neals not only wasn’t chosen, but apparently wasn’t even considered. I must also take a bow as well as one of my predictions came true. Before the 5 week stretch begun I said there was no way in Hell the senate isn’t going to find a reason to take at least one extra day off. Today makes two days extra they took off. It’s so sad how lazy they are…smh
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Speaking of seats not going to the obvious candidate…
I just noticed that Duckworth and Durbin announced a screening process for Northern Illinois vacancies during the summer. Applications were due Sept 11, 2023.
I guess they are moving beyond that original nominee list they put out.
This would explain why it’s taking so long to name a nominee for Judge Durkin’s seat.
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REALLY??? Nicholas Gowen & Karen Shelley were both better than 2 or 3 of the judges Biden already picked. I know Shelley started working for the governor, but I wouldn’t think she would take her name out of contention.
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I mean, that list is 2 years old and was a bit underwhelming as a whole. Maybe they are taking this as an opportunity to assemble a better overall roster for the Durkin seat. I also suspect that Pallmeyer is gonna announce senior status in the near future since her term as Senior Judge is gonna end next year.
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Also, here is the NDIL search committee announcement.
https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-durbin-announce-screening-committee-application-process-for-federal-district-court-in-the-northern-district-of-illinois
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Wow, I missed this. Now this explains the holdup with naming Gowen or Shelley.
Can you imagine being only one of two names on a list for a job with multiple openings, for which you’ve already been passed over many times before? When you think this might just be your turn, it turns out that they’re making a new shortlist. That would be quite a hit to my self-esteem.
Come to think of it, it’s probably more likely that they took themselves out of consideration, though. The WH would have proceeded with the old list, assuming it’s still good. And Durbin/Duckworth isn’t the type to just randomly trash two otherwise good names and start the process anew for no other reason.
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I just realized that Durkin announced he was going senior in March and the new search committee was announce in mid August. That is a long gap. I wonder if there was a vetting issue with the old list names.
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Hey all, found this great article and figured I would share it. I specifically love how they highlight the bullshit decisions coming from Texas and the 5th circuit.
https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/red-courts-blue-courts/
I’m scared that in the future, we’ll have failed political candidates be appointed to the bench instead and we’ll have constant upheaval in our nation’s laws and procedures.
Get rid of blue slips, just do it.
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@dawsont825
Oh trust me, blue slips will eventually be eliminated. Most likely by Republicans. Then Durbin will stand up & shout hoe could Republicans do that after he didn’t end it. Then you know what will happen? Republicans will shove fat right judges into California, New York & other blue states.
After that, all the senators & people on this blog that have advocated for Durbin not ending blue slips will be angry & say they will continue not requiring blue slips at all anymore. Of course that will be after the next MAGA President shoves another 230 young conservative federal judges down their throat. But hey, better late than never I guess…smh
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If that happens, Democrats would respond by placing far left judges in states like Alabama and Mississippi, which the Republicans don’t want.
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In what seats? Republicans would leave no seat behind. By the time Democrats got back in the majority & had the White House there would be a small number of seats left. If you need to use history as a guide, feel free to go back three years with regards to the circuit courts.
The same arguments were used for Democrats not to end blue slips for circuit court seats. They didn’t, Republicans did & Trump got 54 judges in four years while Obama got 55 in eight years.
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I’m divided here.
I have no problem with killing the Blue Slip, but I think, Democratic Senators have, they would loose the chance to take part in decision-making and won’t hand that power to the WH, no matter, if he is in the same party or not. A good example is Ben Cardin with the circuit court vacancy.
But for the restoring of the balancy it would be inevitable to fill vacancies in Red States prior to Blue States – but folks here would also not cheer in having more FedSoc judges in CA or NY.
The re-balancing has not worked so far with exception of the Second Circuit.
On the other hand there aren’t that much district vacancies to get real impact there – most are in TX, MO and FL – and there is always movement there.
Trump has filled all circuit vacancies in his term, but there were many district vacancies open.
I’m still firm in my opinion, that it should be priority to keep the courts running instead of seeing them just as political instruments.
This week Lankford said it at the SJC, that the NDOK is totally overworked – they just have one fulltime district court judge remaining, who is eligible for retirement, and the other one parttime-judge, who is splitted on all three district courts.
I’m still saying, blocking the replacment due to political reasons won’t make the Republican voters happy.
So there should be a chance to fill vacancies in at least some Red States, too.
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I find it hard to believe Tuberville won’t object to skipping the 2 hour wait confirming judges even red states ones.
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Alabama’s other Senator is Katie Britt and she’s made a good impression on the Senate as a whole and not just Republicans. Perhaps she can act as an intermediary between Tuberville and other Senators.
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A good role model for making judicial appointments is former Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, the last Democrat to have been Oklahoma’s governor (2003-2011). Upon the death of a justice in October 2010 and the retirement of another justice in December 2010, Henry appointed 2 liberal justices to the state Supreme Court DURING HIS LAME DUCK PERIOD. Because of Henry’s 2 appointments, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has a pro-choice majority that voted 5-4 (the 4 Democrats + 1 Republican) to protect abortion rights in life-of-the-mother cases, and given they’ve sporadically struck down abortion laws, they may make abortion legal in Oklahoma once the restrictive abortion laws that haven’t yet reached them do so.
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Looks like someone’s been listening to the call for more circuit judges to go senior. William Kayatta of the 1st circuit announces he’ll go senior upon confirmation of a successor.
Just call that one the Biden Circuit lol.
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@Ben
I have to tell you, every time I open my phone when I wake up in the morning & see you made a new post I get happy. You always bring me good news… Lol
William Kayatta… Yes yes yes. This is absolutely great news. I believe Maine has a district court vacancy too. I already was hopeful to see a nominee but this cements it. We should get both nominees by the end of April I would guess if not earlier depending on the names that were being thrown around for the district court vacancy. Great news
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Hahaha that just means I’m up early and constantly online, not sure that’s a great thing.
Any obvious candidates for this seat? Not that obvious is what we want ultimately, there’s been great surprises recently, but it’s a starting point for speculation. And that’s the fun of this site.
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Haaaaaa… No no, that’s a good thing @Ben… Lol
I do think the administration will work hard to find a consensus nominee for this vacancy more so than any of the previous 44 vacancies for obvious reasons. Given that, I’d guess the nominee will be a surprise name not on our radar similar to the 3rd & 4th (Although I have heard of Berner before, just didn’t think of her name for the 4th). But if it was a name on my radar, here would be my top three guesses;
Darcie McElwee (born 1973)
Nolan Reichl (Wife below)
Julia Lipez (born c. 1981) (Husband above)
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if Julia Lipez gets the nomination she will hold her dad’s old seat. Kayatta’s predecessor is Kermit Lipez.
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I haven’t been able to find much public info regarding the current efforts towards filling Maine’s district seat. We also haven’t seen an opening in Maine under Biden. In order to get a rough idea for what to expect, I took a look at the selection process for Judges Walker (District-Trump), Kayata (Circuit-Obama), Levy (District-Obama), and Torrenson (District-Obama) since they were the most recently appointed Maine judges in order to get some clues as to what to expect.
Selection Committee
All of the noms started with a selection process led by what appears to be the most senior members of the President’s party in that state.
– Collins led the committee that nominated Walker.
– Reps Pingree and Michaud led the process for Kayatta and Torrenson.
– Sen King and Reps Pingree and Michaud led the process for Levy.
Judges
In most cases, the committees ultimately, gave the WH a couple names from which to ultimately choose.
– Walker was a judge on the ME Superior Court.
– Levy was on the ME Supreme Court
– Torrenson worked for US Attorney’s Office
– Kayata was a lawyer at a firm, had served as President of ME Bar Association, and lead the Bar committee that reviewed Kagen’s qualifications to be on SCOTUS.
Kayata originally didn’t apply bc he was worried that his connection to the ABA review committee would be too much of a conflict of interest. The selection committee proactively reached out to him after they noticed he didn’t apply, noted his concerns, and asked him to reconsider
Timing
From the point where a nom first submitted their initial application to the section committee to the point where the President announced their name, timing looked like the following.
Walker and Kayata ~9-10 months
Levy ~8 months
Torrenson ~12 months
Current openings
Based on this, I’d assume that the search is probably being led by a combo of Senator King in combination with Rep Pingree and Golden. Since Golden is a conservative Democrat and since Susan Collins will need to eventually sign off on the nom, I wouldn’t expect the nom to be a super far left progressive.
Judge Levy made his senior status announcement on April 27, 2023. I don’t know when the committee was announced, but I think we should see a name for the district spot in early 2023. Since there is already a committee interviewing Maine judges, I’m hoping that will help to expedite the Circuit nom.
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That’s my hope as well. Hopefully they don’t start the process for the 1st over & just continue straight through from the district court vacancy that’s already begun.
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We have the 2024 Senate calendar:
Looks like the Senate comes back for the 2nd session on the 8th, not the 3rd as I thought. This means we could have a hearing on 1/10, which we would need nominees by 12/13 for that slot. Surprisingly, they’re only out on MLK day, not the week itself. Maybe the tradeoff was that they’re off two weeks for President’s Day instead?
Not sure what that random week in the middle of July off is for, since it’s in between their 4th of July break and the August break.
Also, not surprising that they took October off, since that tends to be the standard during election years, no?
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