In a sustained push to fill all the vacancies on the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, President Biden has put forward the third nominee in as many months to the Philadelphia based court, Judge Gail Weilheimer.
Background
Weilheimer received a B.A. from Hofstra University in 1992 and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law in 1995. Weilheimer then spent seven years as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. Between 2002 and 2013, Weilheimer was in private practice, cycling between various firms.
Additionally, in 2004, she was elected to be a Commissioner in Abington Township in Pennsylvania. Weilheimer held that post until 2008.
Since 2014, Weilheimer has been a judge on the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
History of the Seat
If confirmed, Weilheimer would replace Judge Gene Pratter, who passed away on May 17, 2024.
Legal Experience
Weilheimer started her career at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, where she worked as a prosecutor. After leaving that office, Weilheimer’s next long-term position was at Frank, Rosen, Snyder & Moss, where she managed the firm’s criminal defense practice. Weilheimer subsequently moved to Wisler Pearlstine LLP, where she represented various public sector entities, including courts, schools, and municipalities. For example, Weilheimer represented Montgomery County in defending against a suit by a bail bondsman seeking to become a surety in Montgomery County. See Com. v. Liberty Bail Bonds, 8 A.3d 1031 (Com. Ct. Pa. 2010).
Jurisprudence
Since 2014, Weilheimer has served as a Judge on the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. In Pennsylvania, the Court of Common Pleas serves as the primary trial court, handling both civil and criminal cases.
Early in her time on the bench, Weilheimer was assigned to the Civil Division, handling both civil and family/custody matters. See, e.g., Mew v. J.S., No. 3279 EDA 2015 (Pa. Sup. Aug. 24, 2016). Weilheimer also handled a number of criminal matters as well. See, e.g., Com. v. King, No. 3891 EDA 2016 (Pa. Sup. June 27, 2018).
Among Weilheimer’s notable decisions, she granted judgment on the pleadings dismissing a lawsuit alleging that the Reilly foam corporation intentionally altered manufacturing equipment at the expense of worker safety. See Phansackdy v. Reilly Foam Corp., No. 2713 EDA 2018 (Pa. Sup. May 20, 2019).
Weilheimer’s decisions appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court have generally been affirmed. See, e.g., Polis v. Polis, No. 1976 EDA 2015 (Pa. Sup. Oct. 7, 2016) (praising the “well-reasoned opinions of the Honorable Gail Weilheimer”). See also Commonwealth v. Kent, No. 2480 EDA 2016 (Pa. Sup. Sept. 6, 2017) (noting that the “trial court opinion comprehensively discusses and properly disposes of the question presented.”).
Political Activity
Before she was elected to the bench, Weilheimer was a frequent political donor, giving more than $40,000 in 2013, for example, to the Pennsylvania Democratic party.
Overall Assessment
Given the increasingly tightening window for Senate confirmation, the Biden Administration is increasingly leaning into conventional candidates for the federal bench, hoping that their uncontroversial backgrounds make for smoother confirmations. Weilheimer fits into that trend, and, assuming no fireworks through the process, looks likely to make it through.
The Vetting Room 
This pick wasn’t on my radar. I was hoping for one of the many younger & more progressive options that the Philadelphia area offers. This seems to be in line with the type of pick we would get under Toomey & Casey instead of two Democrats. She’s not a bad pick so at this point just get her confirmed.
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Yeah I’m still hoping we’ll see Susan Lin nominated for an EDPA seat someday. But of course she has no chance in the tightening window given that she signed the same Yale Law letter calling out Justice Kavanaugh that Jennifer Sung also signed.
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$40,000 to PA Dems is a lot of money.
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Especially before 2016 when donations to the Dems increased dramatically. The people who that much donated back then were well connected.
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Weilheimer also served as an advisor to Josh Shapiro’s transition team when he was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in 2011. I believe she and her husband are still close to the Governor and her hubby even posted a photo of them at Shapiro’s swearing in ceremony in Harrisburg. I suspect that connection prob didn’t hurt.
When the nomination was first announced, I asked a friend who practices law in the Philly burbs if they had any opinions on her. My friend had missed the news and asked which judge was named. When I mentioned Weilheimer’s name, I was shocked by the response. I think my friend described Weilheimer as being “smart” at least 3 times, mentioned that she’s known for being a really good and capable judge, and commented that she’d “be amazing on the federal level”. Anecdotal evidence and a focus group of 1, but I was happy to see such a positive review.
I’m not aware of any controversial cases in Weilheimer’s past, but she has ruled over quite a few abuse cases. Nothing immediately jumps out but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Blackburn freaks out because someone only got 25 years rather than 30.
She’s been involved with Montgomery County local politics and, as the article mentions, has represented a lot of schools and local institutions. I think she’s somewhat well known and popular in the area, and (based on the presenting schools) would venture to guess she’s prob well know among the suburban women and mothers if the important Philly collar counties (maybe just MontCo). If GOP attacks her the hearing, it could back fire with them among important voters in a key swing state.
Last thing I’ll say is, she may not have an ultra progressive background, but she’s spent the past decade serving as a Commonwealth judge and learning the necessary skills. Also, she’s replacing Pratter, a woman who was nearly elevated to the 3rd Circuit but whose nom was blocked by Senator Casey upon hearing complaints from civil rights groups. This is an upgrade.
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Really good insight @Keystone. I will say that adds some extra background to her. If she is that connected to Governor Shapiro then that would make this a better pick. He’s part of the group of new generation governors that I think are doing a phenomenal job so if he was part of the reason for her being recommended, I probably would have signed off on her if I was working in the White House Counsel’s office too. Thanks for the added info.
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@Keystone, thank you for the background info on her.
She’s sounds like she’ll be a good choice and given who she’ll be replacing, will be an upgrade.
Also, Pratter had a horrible record on civil rights and it was good to see groups put their foot down with Casey to ensure she didn’t get elevated to the 3rd Circuit.
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I’ll admit that @keystone was right about the online buzz about Harris translating to the populace. The energy among Democrats feels like 2008 again, and it’s positive energy and not just anti-Trump.
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I agree. I had my misgivings about Harris initially, but man has she been killing it this week. Dems feel engaged and excited again. I believe if we get a great VP pick, the positive energy will continue until election day. Right now I am hoping for either a Shapiro or Beshear pick, but the options are all good with me. I am concerned with Kelly. I would prefer to keep him in the Senate, voting for judges and not having an open seat again in 2026.
If we win the presidency and have a Dem Senate, what sort of reforms can we expect related to judges? I would like to see cloture times for appellate judges shortened, and a change to the rules (similar to what I believe Sen. Klobuchar proposed) where multiple nominees can be considered at the same time. I suspect with Manchin and Sinema gone next year, we will have a Dem caucus more open to reform with the rules. So much time is needlessly wasted right now…
Also, someone remind me when we can expect nominations again?
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Harris may be having the best first week of any nominee in the modern era. I suspect she will surpass Trump in the polls within the next two weeks & not look back from there. If JD Vance clips keep piping up, it may happen even quicker. He’s getting into Sarah Palin territory for worst VP pick.
August 14th is around the day I would expect the next batch. Hopefully we get some movement in the circuit court nominees this September similar to 2022. But to be honest I feel real good about the presidency now. There should be a renewed focus on flipping Rick Scott & Ted Cruz. A 51 Democrat senate majority without Manchin, Sinema, Feinstein or Menendez could lead to some historic changes not to mention even more progressive judicial nominees.
Lastly I think I am going to flip my first & third choice for Harris VP. I will leave Mark Kelly as my second choice. His wife’s organization just donated $15 million dollars to Harris btw. I am going to move Governor Cooper to third place on my list. I am now going to say Governor Shapiro is my top choice. He gave a speech the other day saying he is tried if Trump “Shit talking” our country down. We need a fighter like that from a Democrat.
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Up until the end I was still on the side of Biden staying in, since I thought it was the best of the bad options. I figured Biden dropping out would further splinter what was an already divided party and you’d get the media fire hosing Dems in Disarray stories into your news feeds every 15 minutes for several more weeks. Not only that, while Biden was still in the race, the party didn’t appear to coalesce around a plan post Biden-dropping out, with some people throwing support behind Harris, others calling for some speed primary (like speed dating?) one month before the convention, and others just calling for an open convention.
With Biden dropping out, this past week was exactly the week Democrats needed to have, anything less would have been bad, I did not expect the party to completely get behind Harris the way they did, and it deprived the media another month of “Democrats panic that Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, DC, and California are battleground states now, Bernie Sanders now seen as an underdog for re-election as 70 Republican Senators seems increasingly likely” stories. The convention next month, which I’m sure no one was looking forward to, should be lit (in a good way). The firepower the party should have in comparison to the Republicans should run laps around Republicans. I saw someone point out that the last Republican convention didn’t have the only other living Republican President, neither person from the 2012 ticket (Romney/Ryan, it’s not like either of them faded into irrelevance after 2012, one became a Senator and the other House Speaker who got a lot of Trump’s agenda through the House), and the previous Republican Vice President. Obviously Harris will be the main attraction, I’m sure Biden will deliver a “pass the torch” speech to her, any Democratic convention in this era has an outright requirement that Obama gets a prime slot, and you’ve got governors like Whitmer and Shapiro. Not really sure what Senators you’d give a prime slot to, maybe Schumer seeing as he’s the Majority Leader, he can use his time to talk about getting KBJ onto SCOTUS through a 50-50 Senate and 200+ federal judges.
Also, if Harris does win with a 50-50 Senate (lose WV and hold every other seat), I’m not sure of any reforms you could make to the judiciary per se, but it does keep the train rolling for judges. I’d hope every remaining Bill Clinton appeals court judge would step aside in this scenario (I was hoping that’d be the case this Congress but I guess not), and then you’re also asking some of the older Reagan/Bush Sr appointees to hang on for another two years. A 50-50 Democratic Senate next years probably means that Jon Tester is now your 50th vote on party-line matters, which should be a definite improvement over Manchin being that Senator for 2021/2022 and Sinema in this Congress. We’d have to go back to discharging party-line SJC votes but I’m sure that’d be easier with the 50/50 Senate we had the last Congress.
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thank you, @jamie . I really appreciate that.
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The dark horse VP pick is Gov Tim Walz from Minnesota. Walz looks and talks as a moderate while having a strongly progressive record as Governor (including on judges). He’s going to get a look if the other contenders have issues with the Democratic base.
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David Hogg was on MSNBC yesterday & said Governor Walz is his personal number one pick. I was surprised to hear him say that but he laid out a very convincing case. He said before governor he was in a swing district, yet still ran on progressive policies including supporting gay marriage before Obama & other Democrats did. He mentioned HHH in signing legislation for school lunches & a few other things.
He is not in my personal top 3 but I wouldn’t shed a tear if he was the pick. Thankfully VP Harris has a treasure trove of good options. And I am sure she won’t screw it up like Trump did with Vance. Remember I said Vance was my top pick from the very beginning numerous times on this blog. Not because he was my top choice (If I was advising Republicans in good faith which I wouldn’t), but because I thought he is who Trump would want. If I had to guess, I will say Harris will end up picking Mark Kelly. But my personal favorite is now Governor Shapiro.
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The pro-Palestinian crowd is going to dislike Shapiro strongly. He also is opposed by teachers unions due to his support for some vouchers.
Kelly did not support the PRO act (although he now says he supports it), which is why unions view him skeptically.
Cooper cannot leave the state because his Lt Gov, Mark Robinson has done shenanigans when he does.
In 1944, the Dems had a variety of choices, all of whom were opposed by some faction of the party… They settled on a guy who had “no enemies”, Harry Truman. Walz might be that guy this time.
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@Jaime
All really good points. I can’t argue with any of it.
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Yesterday Governor Moore made his first appointment to the Maryland Supreme Court. Thank God they finally changed the name of the states highest court to Supreme Court. Now if the only remaining state left can follow suit, looking at you New York.
He appointed a Black man but he appears to be around 60 years old. He is a vet & investigated Medicaid fraud & elderly abuse so he is a good pick other than his age. I expect Moore will get other picks if he stays in office for 8 years, possibly even replacing this pick.
(https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/governor-moore-appoints-hon-peter-k-killough-to-the-supreme-court-of-maryland.aspx)
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Looks like a great pick, and the age is of no concern.
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the dems seem to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to potential VPs. Who knew all these guys had so much personality and charisma….and why didn’t the Dems bring them out sooner?
The name I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is Buttigieg. Jim Clybern was on tv yesterday singing Pete’s praises as a VP candidate and saying that his grandson actually worked on Pete’s presidential campaign. There are also a lot of people who really seem to want to see a Buttigieg-Vance debate.
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And TBH why did the White House basically put Harris in a closet for 3 and half years? She could have been out there selling Biden’s agenda. Yes, she was “unpopular”, but maybe that was because you give her the opportunity to improve that.
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@Dequan
60? Sigh. That means he can only serve for 10 years max. And it’s more likely he’ll serve less, opting to resign before the end of his term *and* mandatory retirement. Maybe that was the point in selecting someone whose old age limits them both ways. Maryland has a strong history and pattern of voting for Republican governors after Dem governors. If this trend holds, Wes Moore can reasonably be expected to be replaced by a Republican. Ordinarily, a younger incumbent justice can run for “continuance,” which they usually win and secure that seat for another 10 years. But this older man won’t be able to run for continuance, which means the governor at the time will name his replacement.
All this could have been avoided by simply breaking our addiction to old candidates. Are you telling me that they couldn’t find a younger person in deep blue Prince George’s County in deep blue Maryland?
Why are Republicans the only ones who are strategic about the courts?
On Harris VP
She has an embarrassment of choices! I don’t think Dems have had such good VP options in my lifetime. I dislike leaning on older pols (after all, we just went through RBG, Feinstein, and Biden!), but I wouldn’t cry about Cooper. And the options just keep getting better. Since Whitmer took herself out of the running, I really like Shapiro and he would have been my choice in any other cycle, but I think Arizona needs shoring up (both the state at the presidential level and the senate seat on this year’s ballot), even at the expense of putting the senate seat back on the ballot years earlier. But what’s implicit in that line? A Harris/Kelly victory in November!!! That’s the only way Kelly’s seat would be on the 2026 ballot. If that means no Trump and Project 2025, I’d take it. Also, Kelly could help in neighboring Nevada. Dems are limping along there.
And can you imagine how powerful Gabby Gifford’s DNC speech introducing her husband as the VP candidate would be? We don’t have to be too creative with imagining it because she’s given speeches before at the DNC.
The VP selection doesn’t really win you an election… but it can lose it. Do no harm, that’s the mantra for selecting a VP and being a VP candidate. John McCain erred in following that simple command and now Trump with Vance.
And now you want to add Gov. Walz to the already great list? Love it! Republicans will jump to racial fear mongering and try to link Keith Ellison to Walz, but Republicans will try to link anything to any Dem, no matter what.
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Definitely Maryland has much younger progressive options. I am (And have been long before he entered politics) a huge supporter of Wes Moore. I am not familiar with how it works in Maryland. Can the governor pick anybody he wants or is there like a commission?
I read there were four people under consideration. I’ve only been able to find the name of one of the other three & she was a state court judge born in 1970. I would like to find out the other two names.
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He’s born in 1960 ,so he’s 63 or 64 years old. So Wes Moore can replace him by himself although he’s term-limited.
https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/31cc/html/msa17572.html
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Still no business meeting scheduled for next Thurs, which also is likely last day before summer recess, unless Schumer keeps them in longer! Yeah sure, Dequan just fell on the floor from laughing so hard at that one!.
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Actually, I’ll correct myself, there is a meeting, Netburn is not listed
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/08/01/2024/executive-business-meeting-1
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Haaaaaaa
I can always count on @Rick for a good laugh. What’s your next joke, Durbin actually backs up his ditching blue slips for a senator who is refusing to turn one in due to discrimination… Lol
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I just hope there is full attendance on our side. Really need this group voted out of committee
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@Dequan,
I looked up the nominating process for Maryland Supreme Court judges and there is a nominating process set up by a judicial commission set up of people appointed by the governor as well as the Maryland State Bar Association and he has to pick someone from that list so no, Wes Moore can’t appoint whomever he pleases or I suspect he likely would have gone with someone younger here.
Same with Hogan, as the person Peter Killough is replacing was one of his nominees who had reached mandatory retirement age.
I suspect he wouldn’t have done that if he had a choice.
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Excellent. Thanks for the added info. I am sure if Moore was given 4 choices, none probably any I would consider an A+, he mine as well go with a choice he himself can replace in a second term.
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Yes, Maryland is a partial Missouri Plan state, with the added feature of regular retention elections. Even if Moore is limited by a judicial nomination commission, we can still look at who and how people get on those commissions. A commission of old guards are not going to give you great options. So start by changing the type of folks who make it onto the commissions in the first place. Again, none of this is insurmountable.
On Netburn
I am more surprised that Netburn got dropped from the business meeting agenda than folks who were surprised to find her on it the last time. I know many people don’t know/remember this, especially in the Biden era since it’s the first time one of his nominees is rejected in SJC, there are actually three potential committee votes on nominees: favorably recommended, unfavorably recommended, and report to the senate without recommendation. Ostensibly, Netburn was returned to the agenda after her failed favorable recommendation vote so that she could get another shot at being reported to the full senate without recommendation. I’d hope Ossoff would have supported this. Now that Netburn is removed, I am guessing Ossoff probably telegraphed that he’s still a no, even with this option.
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I definitely agree Democrats should improve commissions membership when given the opportunity. Since Moore is a fairly new governor, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he might not have had the opportunity to do so yet (Member’s term not up yet, for example).
But I have confidence in him. He is the real deal just like most of the new wave of Democrat governors (New York & Massachusetts aside). Maryland just changed the name of their top court to the Supreme Court so I assume it is not as easy to make changes there as I wish. But the moment Moore gets to make a change in the commission leadership, I am going to bet he will do so favorably.
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So, if Mark Kelly is the VP pick, the governor will appoint someone to serve out the remainder of his term, right? Does anyone know if Katie Hobbs and Sinema are close? Just imagining a nightmare scenario where we somehow win but end up with 2 more years of Sinema’s antics.
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Progressives would line up outside of the governor’s mansion in Phoenix with pitch forks if Sinema was the pick. Hobbs isn’t that stupid. It’s more likely to be Secretary of State Adrian Fontes or a big city mayor like Tucson’s Regina Romero.
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So Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Arizona could be the first state with two senators who are a divorced married couple. I’d watch that sitcom.
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That’s why I intentionally left her name out. but I do admit it would make for some great tv… Haaaaa
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Assuming that Ruben Gallego wins, it’s likely to not be a Hispanic. Greg Stanton or Kris Mayes is more likely. Maybe Kirsten Engel if she narrowly loses again.
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Backtracking to a couple of weeks ago, with Harris now at the top of the ticket, I am going to change one of my predictions. I initially said we won’t see a New Mexico nominee under Biden because polls looked so bad & the seat does not become vacant until 4 days after Biden’s term is up. With Harris now flipping the polls, I think there is a better chance we get a New Mexico nominee in one of the few batches we have left.
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I think Adrian Fontes and Greg Stanton (Phoenix area representative) could both be options.
I do worry about defending that seat in 2026 and 2028, but the trends in Arizona are good overall. If Kelly can help deliver Arizona and maybe Nevada to Harris then it’ll be worth it.
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Would still need to win Pennsylvania (or Georgia) regardless. But Arizona and Nevada would allow Harris to lose either Michigan or Wisconsin.
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It’s possible in the future that with changes in the Maryland commission membership Moore might be allowed to nominate younger more liberal nominees in the future.
Have to wait and see.
As for Sarah Netburn, I would say it’s time to call her nomination a loss and withdraw it so we have time to nominate someone else.
Even if Kamala wins there is no assurances we’ll keep the Senate and Republicans showed in the past they’ll have no qualms letting every single seat in a blue state stay open if they can’t nominate a far right hack to them.
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Since it is just a district seat, send up the transgender judge in NYC as a real screw you move.
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Speaking of trans nominees….
NYT has an article about one of JD Vance’s really good friends from law school who is trans, but the friendship died a few years ago when Vance started to get super right wing and started hating LGBT people (other than her). She included a treasure trove of emails and texts between the two of them over the years. It seems like it was a close friendship bc he says he based a character in “Hillbilly Elegy” off of her and thanked her in the book and a lot of the emails are signed “Love, JD”.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about the email bc they include things like him saying “i hate the police” after Michael Brown’s killing and his worrying about how Muslim citizens would feel in the country after the Trump travel ban.
JD’s former friend/classmate is Sofia Nelson.
Based on a very quick search, seems like she has potential as a nom.
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Considering who the current senators are (or in the case of Slotkin are to be) in Michigan, I can’t see Nelson as a possible judicial nominee. More likely if Harris wins, it’ll be more AUSA’s there with maybe a sitting judge thrown in there. If Trump wins, probably the same with potentially a FedSoc pick thrown in there as well.
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I could see Whitmer or a future Michigan governor appointing Nelson to a state court however. That is, if Nelson is even interested in being a judge.
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@Keystone
WOW… That’s some really good info. Sofia Nelson could definitely be a potential candidate for the first Trans federal judge. I hate that she lost her friendship with Vance because he went all right wing (I haven’t talked to a longtime friend myself since April because he went completely off the deep end, so I know the feeling) but I love the treasure trove of emails & text she has saved. If she is around the same age as Vance, that would be a great pick along with the phenomenal resume you pasted. The EDMI will have additional vacancies during a Harris administration so this could be a name to watch.
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The trans judge I have in mind is the one that Ethan mentioned in the past, Judge Seth Marnin. That he is Jewish and served with ADL should help him in this environment. Obviously the GOP will strongly oppose him and would hammer him on his DEI background.
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In case anyone’s interested in the article. There’s also a couple lines about his wife applying for her SCOTUS clerkship.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/27/us/politics/jd-vance-friend-transgender.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-U0.2ETP.BV9ocFIB6FxX&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
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I’m surprised that Usha Vance didn’t take the offer from Justice Kagan. Or was she rejected by Kagan? I couldn’t tell. Scalia had a history of hiring liberal clerks.
Anyway JD really comes off as a two faced jerk. Not surprising I suppose. Harris ought to make hay of his “I hate the police” comments though.
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@ Keystone
I saw that if Kelly would become VP, Hobbs names his replacement who serves until a special election in 2026 for remainder of term. Then would have to run in 2028 for full term..
Thinking back to Sen McCain, he won his last election in 2016. He passed away in 2018. The special election was in 2020, then the election for the full term was in 2022.
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People rightfully talk about Democrats not retiring when needed (Biden, Leahy, Feinstein, RBG, etc), but it’s not like Republicans have a good tracking record of knowing when to call it quits. In fact, Republican non-retirements are a big reason why Democrats have controlled the Senate during Biden’s presidency. Two of the seats Democrats flipped in 2020 were special elections in Georgia and Arizona, which opened up after a Republican resignation (I think Isakson in Georgia resigned due to declining health) and death. Both Senators were up in 2016 and decided to run, and neither finished out their terms. Republicans would have easily held those two seats if either of them had retired in 2016, and they’d likely still be controlling the Senate today.
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To be fair, Isakson didn’t think that a Democrat could win a Georgia runoff race in 2016. By 2019, his condition was advanced enough that he called it quits.
McCain just didn’t care and planned on dying in the Senate. And Arizona has had a history of right-wing extremists winning GOP primaries, so McCain might have been worried that if he did retire, that the GOP nominee could have lost. The Democrat was a credible candidate in Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick.
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You can make that potentially 3 seats because it’s very possible Ossoff doesn’t win in 2020 with the turnout help from Warnock/ the potential of flipping the senate.
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There’s a good chance that Warnock would have just run against Purdue if the other seat wasn’t available. Stacey Abrams suggested Warnock for either seat.
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These are just more reasons one of the first priorities of business in a Harris administration should be to make DC a state if Democrats hold the senate & take the House. Hell, I wouldn’t be opposed to making The Virgin Islands a state as well. The representative from there advocates for it a lot. Those four senators would make up for the Dakotas being two different states with four senators despite having a smaller combined population then the Walmart in Hialeah.
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Looks like there are now three frontrunners. Kelly and Shapiro, as previously mentioned, but now Tim Walz also in that group.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-27/kamala-harris-vice-presidential-search-focuses-on-3-candidates
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I would agree with DC statehood. That might cause a backlash (but, given attention spans maybe not) but long term it would more or less balance out the imbalance in the senate.
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I think adding 4 Justices to SCOTUS would definitely cause a backlash the next time the GOP is in power. That is why I am against it. I am not afraid of a backlash to adding states. It is likely any addition will favor democrats. If they split Alaska in half for instance, the likelihood is a big city like Anchorage would end up tipping that state into at least purple for the two senate seats.
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It would cause a backlash because it’s unconstitutional.
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How could adding a state be unconstitutional? This country has done it 37 times.
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I really think the 9th circuit needs to be split maybe into half which would add a 12th circuit .. Overall update the number of judgeships our country needs soon
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Some of the constitutional issues of DC statehood are discussed here.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/dc-statehood-explained
But they can be easily dealt with. The areas around the federal government can be removed from the new Douglass Commonwealth. And then you can pass a law that the 3 EV for the District of Columbia goes to the candidate with the most EV. If Maryland’s consent is required for DC to be a state, I’m 100% sure that the Maryland gov’t will provide such consent.
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Court packing might be a bridge too far but the reality is something will give with this SCOTUS sooner or later.
Court reform of some type has to be done.
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There will probably be some kind of ethical reform for the Court regardless of who is elected President. Appearances matter. But you’re right, court packing does not have the support of the public.
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Fetterman has covid. He’ll be out for a bit this week.
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I think the Democrats will just regroup & focus on judges in September. We likely will get a heavy dose of the Tax Court or local DC judges this week if anything. Hopefully Schumer at least tees up a couple of circuit court nominees to start off with in September like he did in 2022. He sent John Lee & Andre Mathis cloture motions to the desk the last day before the summer recess.
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Fetterman tested positive for COVID, so there goes the whole week in hopes of even getting an appeals court nominee teed up.
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I think Embry Kidd can be confirmed. Remember Seth Aframe was an 11-10 vote in committee, but he got Collins and Murkowski AYE vote on the floor. I don’t think Kidd is that controversial
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It also depends if Vance is out all week too, and if Menendez wants to cast a few final votes in his Senate career. They can still tee up Saporito, Abelson, and Vacca tomorrow for Wednesday/Thursday votes. Considering Fetterman never actually votes on the Senate floor (he pokes into the chamber from one of the doors to vote so he doesn’t need to suit up), can’t he just continue to vote that way and not be near anybody?
I still really don’t understand the Senate scheduling since Memorial Day. I know Republican Senators have questioned the amount of time that Senate hasn’t been in session, although the reason I want the Senate to stick around for a week or so in August is different than their reasons (they want the Senate to remain in for the NDAA/appropriations/etc, while I want them to keep cranking nominations out), but from the Democratic perspective, wouldn’t you want more time in session when your party holds both the Senate and the White House?
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The problem with scheduling extra time while Democrats are in the majority is there are a few senators within the caucus who have expressed opposition to this. One of them is Sinema, who we will not have to worry about after this year. It is also rumored (But I believe it) that certain Western Democrat senators like Tester were thinking about not running for reelection, & part of the pitch to get them to run (Thus being virtually the only option to holding the seat) was if they give them more time off so they can have a better quality of life.
But as I have said before, Schumer could do both. There should be more than one vote on Monday’s. They can have the confirmation vote for whoever at 5:30pm & then just have an additional cloture vote right after to tee up Tuesday morning. It would only add around one more hour of work on Monday’s. Then add an additional hour of work Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. That would be four additional votes per week (which could confirm two additional nominees except circuit court, cabinet secretaries & SCOTUS). The senate can leave Thursday at 5pm & still come in Monday 5pm. I do not understand the one vote on Monday’s. Even if you are afraid of attendance issues, schedule the less controversial votes on Monday so even if a few Democrats don’t show up, you can still get the nominee confirmed.
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Embry Kidd is one of the few party line judges where I could see them trying to set it up for Harris to come back for the tie breaking vote. Maybe a day when she’s campaigning in PA and they bring her back to cast the vote.
Her returning for the vote from campaign trail would make news and would also highlight the fact that the GOP was actively trying to block the nomination of a non controversial black male nominee to a court that covers GA, FL, AL.
Not saying it’s likely to happen, but I could imagine the scenario. IDK, maybe I’ve been watching too many “West Wing” reruns.
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I swear Kennedy couldn’t trip Kidd up and actually grinned at him… I can see a few Republicans voting for him
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Somebody on MSNBC last week said something that I thought was great. They said, “Just because Donald Trump does something, doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea”. They were talking about how he is great at messaging (Despite his message being horrible).
I think Democrats should do more of this when it comes to judges. Having Harris return to work from the campaign trail to cast a tie breaking vote for (Or at least preside over the vote if Murkowski and/or Collins votes for him) a Black man from Florida who Rick Scott (Hint hint, he’s running for reelection this year) is blocking would be great optics. Hell, you can have Harris fly down to Florida to attend the wearing in herself. Of course, on a day she has a big rally scheduled of course.
If you REALLY want to make a big deal of it, go the extreme. Schedule the 30-hour cloture time to end around midnight. Have Harris come in to preside at midnight. Do it on a Wednesday night & give the senate the next day Thursday off if you want (As long as you have a cloture vote after the Kidd confirmation vote to set up confirmation for whoever the next nominee is on the following Monday). Have her fly to Florida the next day to attend the swearing in. Get some Hollywood makeup artist make her look like she is tired, even if you have to put fake bags under her eyes. Show the American people she will work anytime of the day or night to fight against extremist like Rick Scott to get the work of the American people done.
Come on people, we have to think out of the box to win this election. There are people who get paid a lot more than I do who should be thinking of ideas like this… Haaaaa
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There might be a handful of district judges that can be confirmed. And Fetterman may be back by Wednesday or Thursday anyway. Not sure on the protocol
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Once he no longer has a fever and improving symptoms for 24 hours, he can show up.
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Meh – Fetterman is pretty bad at attendance even when he’s in good health. The man consistently misses Monday votes even though his state isn’t that far from DC. I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays out the whole week even if he’s feeling better.
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I would expect Fetterman out the whole week considering his other health issues that could be affected by covid.
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I missed this (Link below) four days ago with everything going on. I would bet money this circuit court seat will become vacant one way or another under a President Harris.
Also Schumer is calling on Trump to drop Vance (Second link below). I think that is a brilliant move. It forces Trump to defend Vance & his past statements.
(https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/federal-circuit-panel-urges-extension-of-newmans-suspension?source=newsletter&item=read-text®ion=digest&login=blaw)
(https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/schumer-calls-on-trump-to-pick-new-running-mate-claims-vance-is-best-thing-he-s-ever-done-for-democrats/ar-BB1qMoy2?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=7310cf07b300472496ad3c5808432dcb&ei=11)
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I tried to post a comment but it says “Your comment is awaiting moderation.” so I guess I got Word Pressed because I included links. Any way I tried to post the Federal Circuit is recommending extending judge Newman’s suspension. Also Schumer is calling on Trump to drop Vance. I think that is a brilliant move. It forces Trump to defend Vance & his past statements.
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I’m really curious about something, from the 42 appeals court judges that biden appointed who do you all think is likely to take senior status during a GOP presidency
I’m thinking 3
1- Irma Ramirez
2- Joshua Kolar
3- Richard Federico
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I’m really curious about something, from the 42 appeals court judges that biden appointed who do you all think is most likely to take senior status under a GOP presidency
I’m thinking 3
1- Irma Ramirez
2- Joshua kolar
3- Richard Federico
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Are we talking who would purposely go senior under a Republican & not talking due to health or some unforeseen circumstance? I honestly don’t know if I believe any would do that but if I was forced to guess, I would only say Joshua Kolar. And probably not even him.
If I was forced to pick a second & third I would guess Doris Pryor & Richard Federico. According to both of their SJC Q’s, the Republican home state senators reached out to them first. Pryor was a public defender but only for a short amount of time, plus she’s from Arkansas. Federico was also a federal defender but was in the military so I can see him leaving to the right unsuspecting.
Again I don’t think k either of those three will actually take senior status under a Republican on purpose. But if I was forced to guess, those would be my top 3.
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A group called The Center for Judicial Renewal has put together a small list of people they’re recommending for the U.S. Supreme Court if Trump wins another term. James Ho of the Fifth Circuit is at the top of the list, and he’s the most conventional. Here is their list:
James Ho- Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Kyle Duncan- Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Lawrence Van Dyke- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Kristen Waggoner- General Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Mark Martin, North Carolina Supreme Court (former)
Morse Tan- Dean of Liberty University School of Law
I don’t how important this group is. Here is their website if you want a look-see:
https://afaaction.net/cjr/
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That list alone should be enough if a reason to get out & vote to make sure Trump Disney get anywhere near The White House again.
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They are a subsidiary of a Christian right group that’s been around for a while. Very very anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ+. It’s no surprise that all of their recommendations are from that vein of conservatism. Duncan, Martin and Van Dyke have a long history of hatred for LGBTQ+ people, and James Ho was the sole 5th circuit judge who backed Matthew Kacsmaryk’s (surprised he wasn’t included in this list along with Judge Sarah Pitlyk) opinion on the abortion pill in full, which was rejected by SCOTUS 9-0.
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Thank you all for your comments on the Ryan Park write up. I intentionally didn’t mention I was doing the write up this time to see if you all noticed it was me. You did right away… Lol
I appreciate not having an issue with me commenting on my own write ups but it is a personal decision. No, Harsh didn’t tell me I couldn’t comment on it. It is strictly my own preference. I have seen it done other places & I just think it’s bad taste to write something & then comment on it, even if you aren’t TRUMPeting your own writings (Btw I love that term @Ads… Lol).
But believe me, I read each & every comment. And I will write any comments I have here until the next write up is posted. Thanks for you understanding & thanks again for all of the great comments. Even you @Gavi. I actually laughed when I read you saw the article talking about race & scrolled up to see if it was Harsh… Haaaaa
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Ok. Was worth a shot. LOL
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Schumer closed out Monday sending cloture motions;
Meredith Vacca
Joseph F. Saporito Jr.
Department of State nominee
HR 7024 – Child tax credit bill
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Good news to see cloture on Vacca to shore up the judges in WNY …WNY esp Erie county and Cattaragus Co. which straddle WPA where Trump got several judges confirmed to….. Adding Saporito for MPA was a good cloture motion ….
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You can add Governor Cooper to the list along with Governor Whitmer…
(https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/politics/harris-vice-president-roy-cooper/index.html)
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Schumer wrapped up. No cloture motions sent.
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The SJC hearing starting, we should get two nominees confirmed today along with a new surprise batch. It is turning out to be a surprisingly big day for the judiciary today.
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OMG, Durbin just let Tillis play a video on Ryan Park that he hadn’t seen or vetted. First time ever at a SJC hearing.
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Dumb as it gets but luckily Park was able to call Tillis out on that.
As for Brindisi, I rarely toot my own horn but I pretty much had him picked out as a potential nominee way back when and given the issues with Hurd and with Glenn T. Suddaby taking senior status, not surprised he’s getting a shot at this seat, especially since being a judge is what he’s really wanted to be all along.
I have heard names being tossed around for the Syracuse seat which I suspect will be to your and others liking but nothing is set in stone yet.
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Yup, you sure did call it way back. I learned of his name right here from you. I wish you were wrong because he is not a good blue state pick. Factoring in the judge he is replacing has rescinded before & did so as soon as he found out the nominees last name was Rodriguez, he is an upgrade. I guess at this point, that makes him a better nominee. It seems as though he has become more progressive over time so I hope that goes along with him in the bench.
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@JJ28
Senator Rick Scott is beatable. Harris would need to carry her enthusiasm over to the senate race & make sure all of her voters know to continue voting blue down the rest of the ballot. Obama was really good at that.
There was a major golf carts for Harris type rally last week in The Villages. I was actually shocked. I use to live 25 minutes from The Villages when I was in high school. It’s one of the most Republican heavy areas of Florida, more than the surrounding areas of Mar-a-largo.
It will be an up hill climb for the presidency & senate here in Florida. If a coalition of Independent voters, Democrat voters that didn’t come out in 2022 & voters that are interested in the two ballot initiatives can be built, Florida is winnable. Democrats should certainly invest in the state.
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I’m definitely riding high on the wave of the last week and a half, but I’m hopeful that if these numbers continue (fundraising, polling, volunteers) for Harris and her VP, that the Dems notice Florida’s potential and make a play. Nikki Fried set the table by recruiting Dems to run in every House district for the first time in decades, even ruby red districts where the Dem will definitely lose. But losing there by less will help us have a chance to make gains statewide. If the margin in the state is more like 2018 and 2020 and less like 2022, then it is definitely possible to eke out a win in one or more statewide races (ballot issues, Senate, POTUS). But you are right that it will need attention and money.
I am so excited to hear about the golf cart rally at the Villages — maybe there is more momentum that we can’t even quantify yet.
And remember, Florida voting starts September 21st for uniformed military voters (and their eligible attendant family members) in active service and overseas Floridians who are eligible voters. Then September 26th for domestic Florida vote-by-mail voters. My point is: voting begins in LESS THAN the 97 days we are counting down generally until Election Day.
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Exactly. And you mentioned something I’ve mentioned on this blog numerous times before. Democrats should be fielding candidates everywhere, including so called unwinnable races. While you are talking about Florida, the race that pisses me off the most is Tom Cotton’s last senate race.
Democrats didn’t even run a candidate in the race. There should be NO US senate race where they don’t run somebody. And this was a seat that was held by a Democrat 6 years easier. A Democrat wasn’t going to win but when you don’t run anybody, you allow the Republican to run as far to the right as they want to. That should never happen in a federal statewide race.
On another note, I saw the comments from @Gavi & @Frank about missing @Shawn. For some of you that weren’t on this blog a couple of years ago, he was the most prolific commentator on this blog, even more than myself believe it or not. While we didn’t always agree, I enjoyed our spirited debates. He went missing from the blog for months & then briefly came back & mentioned he had been very sick. He disappeared again & has gone missing for a couple of years since. I actually mentioned him to Harsh the day Ryan Park was nominated & we agreed I would write his article so he was on my mind as well. I hope he is ok but the reality is he most likely is not because he was too passionate about the judiciary to go silent for a couple of years.
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https://www.wktv.com/community/fmr-congressman-anthony-brindisi-nominated-for-federal-judge-position-in-utica/article_e61e0864-4f4e-11ef-8c41-f3ac5977ce89.html
This article goes into more detail about why Hurd did what he did before.
There was a genuine fear the federal courthouse in Utica was in danger of closing by local officials/federal workers with both Democratic and Republican officials (rare these days) speaking out against it.
I’m not blind to the fact there is racism even among certain Clinton/Obama judges but knowing this area, I can tell you that Hurd wouldn’t have cared about Rodriguez’s last name if he had been based in the Utica area or close by.
The minute it came out it was someone from Albany his nomination was DOA, because no one in the area that I knew of believe him Rodriguez or his allies that he would move to Utica.
Still not a good thing it went down the way it did, someone shouldn’t be punished by losing a nomination just because they don’t happen to live in a certain area and because of politics but in this case, nothing could be done.
In the grand scheme of things, Brindisi will be a fine judge and IMO, makes it more likely we’ll see a progressive nominee for the remaining vacancy from this district.
Have to wait and see.
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Why exactly do people think racism was involved in that decision?
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Wasn’t there also a planning document from the Administrative Office of the courts showing that the Utica courthouse was going to get phased out? And now the current version of that document no longer shows that?
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Because judge Hurd made no mention of duty station when he announced his retirement. As soon as the name Rodriguez was uttered, he all of a something rescinded. When senator Gillibrand assured him Jorge Rodriguez had already stated he was going to move to the area, Hurd still stated he was not satisfied & rescinded. So if duty station was the only problem, he should have bene fine with senior status.
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Did you read what Zach wrote? With the heavy indication that the Utica station was set to close, anyone who was not from the area was DOA, even though it wasn’t explicitly said. Not everything can be explained by racism.
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Oh I ready it alright. What’s stopping Anthony Brindisi from simply moving from the area once confirmed? What’s stopping the US Congress from simply closing the courthouse even if Brindisi is confirmed? Did Judge Hurd think one of the two home state senators was lying to him when she said she had already gotten a commitment from Jorge Rodriguez that he was moving to the city?
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Outside of college, Brindisi’s lived in Utica his entire life and he seems pretty loyal to the area. The Gillibrand staffer’s quote was carefully worded with wiggle room, such that Rodriguez could just occasionally hear cases there. It seemed pretty obvious that he would hear some cases there, then as the funding for the court’s maintenance and staffers was reduced, he’d hear fewer and fewer until the court was closed.
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I still am not understanding something. If the Congress votes to close a particular courthouse down, what can a judge Hurd, Rodriguez or Brindisi do about it? Like I’m not trying to be funny, I really want to understand if there is something they can do regardless of which judge is in the seat of Congress makes that decision. Congress has the power of the purse so I am not understanding what the difference is regardless of which of the three judges is in the seat.
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I’m pretty sure the Administrative Office of the United States Courts’s 5/10-year plan guides congressional spending (does congressional spending even touch on specific courthouses?), along with courthouse closures. While it’s just a hunch, I suspect Roslynn Mauskopf of Long Island, who led the office from 2021 through this past January, was the one who wanted the Utica courthouse eliminated.
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There is a Judicial court and a Bankruptcy court in the same bldg in Utica maybe has something to do with keeping the seat there. 2 courts in one building..
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Here’s a News link i dont know how to get link here …..www.romesentinel.com April 3 2024
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Like you advocate for certain lawyers to be nominated to federal judgeships, they can choose to advocate (or not) for the Utica station to remain open, which is a lot easier to do when there is already an active judge sitting there with direct ties to the area. That part of the state does not tend to trust what Albany says, nor career politicians.
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Ok, fair enough. An active judge Hurd (Or likeminded replacement) could advocate for the courthouse to stay open. I was asking more on the lines of constitutional what can they do to stop Congress from closing the courthouse. But yes advocating while in active service is certainly understandable.
I’m just happy to see judge Hurd change his mind & is coming off the bench this time. I hope his replacement is closer to what we have seen more recently than when he was voting against gun bills. I understand the district he was in is a Trump plus 15% district so hopefully that is the reason he voted the way he did when running for office earlier in his career.
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It’s not even 15 minutes into the SJC executive meeting & Blackburn is having a full blown meltdown. Karla Campbell is the first nominee to be voted on. Thank God this is the third & last circuit court judge for Tennessee, Blackburn will have shoved down her throat.
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Blackburn probably has nothing to worry about in the end, but I would love little more than for her to lose in November. Today’s primary will decide her opponent (I’m assuming it will be Gloria Johnson, but have no idea really), who might actually have a decent chance. There has been something going on in TN the last two years — the shootings and the Republicans’ tone deaf responses have spurred so much righteous anger; the neo-nazis marching through town; the general overreach of state Republicans…. It may just lead to a Dem improvement in more local ways, and their breaking of the GOP supermajorities in the statehouse, which is not nothing, but my gut feeling is to not sleep on what is going on in Tennessee. Marsha is a very bad senator and an overconfident candidate, which could produce the right conditions for a surprise. Makes me think of Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota in 2012, and to a lesser degree based on the race’s circumstances, Joe Donnelly in Indiana in the same election. These three TN-based circuit seats will all hopefully be filled by the end of the year, so a split Senate delegation would not be able to affect that, but district seats might be in play, who knows. One can dream.
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I’ve been advocated for Democrats to go on the offensive against Blackburn. I think Gloria Johnson is the perfect candidate to run against her. She can get out the African American vote with the other 2 Tennessee Three by her side. She shouldn’t scare off White voters as much as other possibilities. She would need a straight flush to win but this is the right environment & candidate to at least try with.
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Schumer close out. The senate unanimously passed the bill to add additional judgeships.
Adam Abelson
Jeanette Vargas
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