Sharad Desai – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

The brother of Ninth Circuit Judge Roopali Desai, Phoenix based attorney Sharad Desai is vying to become the first Indian American judge on the federal district court bench in Arizona.

Background

Born to an Indian immigrant family in Phoenix, Desai received a joint B.S. and B.A. from the University of Arizona in 2003 and then a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2006. Desai then returned to Arizona to clerk for Arizona Supreme Court Justice Rebecca White Berch.

After his clerkship, Desai joined Osborn Maledon, P.A. in Phoenix. He became a Member with the firm in 2012. In 2015, he shifted to Honeywell International Inc., a business conglomerate working in aerospace and technology, among other areas, where he serves as Vice President and General Counsel.

History of the Seat

Desai has been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, to a seat to be vacated on October 21, 2024, when Judge G. Murray Snow takes senior status.

Legal Experience

After his clerkship, Desai worked in litigation at Osborn Maledon, P.A. While at the firm, Desai represented a class of retired Arizona judges in a class action suit against a change in the calculations of pension benefit increases for judges. See Fields v. Elected Officials’ Retirement Plan, 320 P.3d 1160 (Ariz. 2014). Desai secured a victory for the class in trial court, which was affirmed by the Arizona Supreme Court. See id.

While at the firm, Desai was appointed by the Arizona District Court to represent a class of pretrial detainees in litigation by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office seeking to terminate consent agreements overseeing conditions in their jails. See Graves v. Arpaio, 48 F. Supp. 3d 1318 (D. Ariz. 2014). Desai maintained his representation of the class until he left the firm in 2015.

On the pro bono side, Desai represented a Nevada prisoner seeking recovery for costs from litigation challenging a disciplinary hearing against him. As part of his representation, Desai briefed and argued the appeal before the Ninth Circuit. See Jones v. McDaniel, 607 F. App’x 710 (9th Cir. 2015).

For the last nine years at Honeywell International Inc., Desai has served as a Counsel, advising various divisions of the company, and overseeing litigation in general. However, he has not appeared in court during this time. Nonetheless, Desai has supervised litigation, including in a $38 million product liability suit involving a Honeywell autopilot on an aircraft, which ended in a jury verdict in Honeywell’s favor after a two week trial. See Egbers v. Honeywell, Int’l, Cook County Circuit Ct. Case No. 06 L 6992 (Ill. 2016).

Overall Assessment

Perhaps more than any other Senator, Senator Kirsten Synema has been able to grease the wheels for nominees from her state. The three nominees to Arizona courts from the Biden Administration have each drawn more than 60 senators in support, a remarkable feat, given that only around 20% of the Administration’s judicial nominees have drawn that level of support.

While Desai is unlikely to get the same level of support, given the fact that his nomination will almost certainly be considered in the lame duck session, it is possible that Sinema will be able to work her magic a fourth time and ensure that Desai joins the bench in due course.

1,386 Comments

  3. Joe's avatar

    In hindsight, yeah probably. Qurashi would have been fine.

    I also can’t help but think that, in a universe where Kamala wins, the GOP probably packs it up and heads home for much of this lame duck period and maybe some of these circuit seats do end up filled as planned. My guess is that’s what they were counting on and the endless gamesmanship from the GOP is something they didn’t account for. A mistake.

    The overall lesson here is – stick together as a caucus and simply vote for 99% of nominees within a week or two of them clearing SJC. There was no reason to let these drag out like they did and pick up opposition. Had Schumer and Dems confirmed Mangi back in early February no one in the public would have heard much about it and it would’ve had zero impact on the election. Same with Kasubhai, Russell, Ali, etc.

    Instead, some vulnerable Dems (Rosen, Brown, Tester, Sinema/Manchin) let bad faith GOP attacks get in their heads and they convinced themselves that they could put it off and get them done later. It backfired, attention skyrocketed, and now those seats will be filled by GOP hardliners who want to push the nation to the right. A sad state of affairs.

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Zack's avatar

    In hindsight, what Democrats should have done is realized that Mangi’s nomination was doomed instead of worrying that pulling it would offend Muslim/Asian voters and gotten someone else in there instead of letting it flip back to an Alito clone.
    As it was, many of the folks we were worried about offending veered to the right anyway this Fall because of social and criminal justice issues so clinging to his nomination was pointless.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Dequan's avatar

    I can’t even use the word hindsight. Many of us here on this blog were screaming so many things the past 3 & a half years that would have gotten most if not all 4 of these circuit court nominees confirmed. Work until late night Thursday every now & then, work the occasional Friday, cancel a few days of a multiple week recess, save wasting floor time confirming nominees for positions that the next president can get rid of on day one for the lame duck, tee up the most liberal nominees when you know Republicans will be out (Medical issues, campaign events, debates, going to see a rocket take off, etc.) & call up circuit court nominees right after they clear committee instead of lingering around.

    This isn’t hard. I shouldn’t be smarter than US senators. They could have simply followed this blog & at the very least Lipez & Campbell would be confirmed. I have never been more angry at anything judiciary related as I am right now at this deal. This should cost Schumer any chance at being majority leader ever again. I don’t care what Biden’s finally number is. I don’t care if he beats Trump’s first term total by ten. If his total doesn’t include at least two of the four circuit court nominees, I could care less.

    Like

    • Joe's avatar

      I’m with you. All the enjoyment I would’ve gotten over passing Trumps 234 is pretty much gone right now.

      If it was just Mangi and Park I maybe could’ve gotten over it (somewhat). But Campbell was a great nominee who got very little public pushback and Lipez had neutral/soft support from Collins. Those two should’ve been pushed through before the election.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Thomas's avatar

    I was trying to bring my thoughts in order again after the deal yesterday. It looks like the Democrats have completely collapsed after they faced Republican resistance/obstruction and made a bad deal.

    I won’t defend anybody here, but I also assume, that I was worry with the fact, that the Senate had just confirmed five circuit judges so far, and now should confirm the same number in just five weeks. So I expected that they won’t be confirmed all, but surely not, that it’s just Kidd in the end.

    While others brush away Schumer’s statement, that they all have not the votes, I took that as the vital point. We don’t know if it’s just Sinema and Manchin, who are ‘nay’ on all or some of them, like in this blog some Democratic senators have also thought, that they would have pushed though the moment the Republicans are looking in the other direction – but you can’t confirm a circuit nominee by a surprise move. From the moment Schumer had filed cloture on these, the GOP had two days to organize enough opposition/floor presence to withdraw cloture or failing with the cloture vote. And even if you are lucky enough to invoke, they would have been able to do that again 30 hours later. You are maybe lucky enough be successful one time, but not four times.

    Being inflexible, when nominations are in jeopardy, was a huge problem for the Democrats. Mangi, Campbell, Lipez and Park were all great nominees, but they should have been replaced when it was clear, that they have not the votes. So they have waited and hoped the best and now Trump will inherit them. That nobody has been confirmed to the Southern District of California since March 2023, because two nominees have failed, is the best example for that.

    But it’s not over yet, I don’t see all district court judges necessarily passing, even the focus is now on this deal, and the local DC judges.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Zack's avatar

    Also mentioned a page or two back is this is where losing other Senate races came back to hurt us.
    Mandala Barnes/Cheri Beasley winning their races meant Sinema/Manchin could have been told to shove it but they didn’t win and that mean we had to deal with those two clowns helping Republicans obstruct judges.
    I will say this is another area Schumer dropped the ball in.
    Nothing you could threaten Manchin with but Sinema should have been told her nominees would get pushed to the back of the line and that if she wanted them confirmed, to play ball on others or they just stay open etc.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Rick's avatar

    I guess at this point if we can at least get the Weinstein SDNY confirmation that would be good (it certainly doesn’t make up for the Circuit court fiasco)

    I mean, the Netburn nomination was already tanked, can’t tank ANOTHER SDNY nominee. Schumer HAS to be able to do something right.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Zack's avatar

    I will also say this, Bernie Sanders has to be called out as well for his actions the past week.
    His bill over Israel was more wasted time that could have been spent on confirming judges and it irks me that it was even entertained.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Mike's avatar

    No way the GOP lets Senate Democrats confirm over a dozen DC court judges. The FedSoc will find a way to rot that court too with their far right judges.

    It’s really quite incredible that with 3 weeks left in power and the Dems managed to hand the GOP a WAY bigger win than the one Ted Cruz got which I’ve been complaining about for two years.

    I just can’t fathom being this incompetent, I’m trying but it won’t compute in my mind. 4….FOUR LIFELONG appeals court judges!!!

    It’s our fault really, we are the absolute minority as democrats nationwide do not care about the judiciary so why are we surprised the elected Dems would care.

    The entire right wing media ecosystem lost its mind because a few senators missed confirmations for 3 judges, there will never be that coordination or care on the left for judicial appointments.

    Hell 52% of white women voted for Trump 2 years after HIS judges overturned Roe.

    @Dequan

    Does it give you bittersweet joy to know that the last circuit court judge democrats confirmed for the next 4 or 40 years is a black man who will serve in the state that will be the beating heart of MAGAs homebase into 2028 and beyond?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      I’m grateful Kidd got confirmed but everything I am happy about from the past 3 & a half years will be overshadowed by the lame duck. Five weeks left in power & what have we have gotten so far? A VP who could break tie votes sent off to Hawaii during the busiest week of the lame duck for R&R, two weeks ending Thursday at 4pm, a Republican governor whipping the senate GOP caucus better than the Democrat majority leader can whip his caucus & surrendering four circuit court judges to Trump. Geez, I can’t wait to see what we get in the minority.

      Like

  11. shawnee68's avatar

    I see what you are saying but folks here like to compare the GOP and the Dems.

    The Democrats are not fall inline. They are more independent and we all know that.

    We saw what Sander’s did earlier in the week but that’s what you can expect from Dems and those who caucus with them. Not to forget Cinema and Manchin. They are backstabbers can’t prevail over people like them.

    As such, there’s nothing Schumer, Durbin or Biden can do to change this dynamic. Of course, things could have gone better but this was overall a good effort.

    If Trump had been in office the last 4 years he would have had 200+ judges on top of what he already had.

    Unless there’s a massive judgeship bill,the final Trump term will not come close to 200 judges.

    Liked by 1 person

      • shawnee68's avatar

        Getting rid of blue slips was the fever dream of radical “progressives”outside of the Senate.

        Fortunately, it was not taken seriously by Durbin and Senate Democrats.

        It takes time to get judges up there. Trump still hasn’t learned that backgrounds need to done and properly.

        You can see now how lazy they are with Gaetz and Hegseth. It’s haste like that which will eventually backfire.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Frank's avatar

        I don’t think you understand my position. I don’t actually think blue slips will be abolished, but was pointing out that if they did choose to take that option that they would confirm many more judges. Republicans are able to outsource the process of finding judicial nominees to FedSoc, so it wouldn’t be as difficult of a task as you think. That being said, I don’t think Republicans want Democrats in the future with the ability to ignore their preferences when they aren’t in power, so I don’t see anything changing with blue slips.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Zack's avatar

    @Mike, that’s another point that I think many folks overlook.
    In 2016, a chance to get a liberal Supreme Court was on the line and it wasn’t enough for a lot of folks on team blue to vote for Hillary.
    This year, Kamala also brought up SCOTUS and again, it wasn’t enough for many.
    Given that, why are we shocked Democratic leaders aren’t showing that they care about the courts when far too many of their voters don’t?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Mike's avatar

      I like to imagine a world were Dems realized they could do it all because you know, they can and choose not to.

      Joe Manchin will 10,000% go into lobbying, and nobody will pay him to get GOP votes they’ll pay him to get blue votes. All Chuck and his 47 loyal democrats have to do is tell him their door will be shut if he doesn’t leave town early or vote in line with everyone else.

      Sinema will either do the same or be on the board of a bunch of miliary and finance companies, make the same promise to her or let her know her buddy won’t be confirmed to a lifetime appointment.

      This ISN’T cheese, Senator Nancy Pelosi would’ve gotten 250 judges confirmed by now.

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Ryan J's avatar

    Yesterday, I saw this meme:

    “Live shot of Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor”
    It’s a picture of Cookie Monster saying “JUDGES… NOM NOM NOM NOM”

    The meme’s maker clearly had not yet found out about the Wednesday late-night “deal”.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. shawnee68's avatar

    @Frank

    The point I am trying to make is that Reublicans are more concerned with liberal incursions in their state than flipping judges in blue states.

    The GOP left a lot judges in blue states for Biden to fill. The district court judges far exceed circuit court judges in number of seats.

    I don’t believe that Republicans are willing to give away their power over lower court judges simply because they are in power for now.

    They know there will be time when they are out of power and a Dale Ho type will have far more power in a red state where judges are few.

    Since most of the judges are in blue states , I cannot foresee Trump nominating very many judges.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Zack's avatar

    Circuit court seats have far more power and I’d rather give up all the remaining district court seats in exchange for confirming the four Circuit ones.
    I will say this, if Republicans stall anymore, Schumer/Democrats should (but they won’t) tell Republicans to go screw themselves and that they’ll stay there until Christmas if need be.
    I also saw where Blackburn did a Tillis and told Strauch to not even think of taking back her senior status.
    I hope she and Wynn tell them to go screw themselves and take it back anyway.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. Ryan J's avatar

    Success rate for Biden filling district court seats in red states:

    Alabama: 0/1 (0%)
    Alaska: 0/2 (0%)
    Arkansas: 0/1 (0%)
    Florida: 4/8 (50%)
    Idaho: 1/1 (100%)
    Indiana: 3/4 (75%)
    Iowa: 1/1 (100%)
    Kansas: 0/1 (0%)
    Louisiana: 3/6 (50%)
    Mississippi: 0/1 (0%)
    Missouri: 0/4 (0%)
    Montana: 0/1 (0%)
    Nebraska: 1/1 (100%)
    North Carolina: 0/3 (0%)
    Ohio: 4/5 (80%)
    Oklahoma: 2/2 (100%)
    South Carolina: 1/2 (50%)
    South Dakota: 2/2 (100%)
    Tennessee: 0/1 (0%)
    Texas: 3/10 (30%)
    Utah: 1/1 (100%)
    Wisconsin: 1/1 (100%)

    Approximate total: 27/59 (45.8%)

    This is actually not too different from Trump’s filling of blue state district court seats in 2017-21. It would be too time consuming to count all of these (I’ve pretty much memorized the percentages for Biden judges in red states), but here are some samples from blue states:

    California: 5/17 (29.4%)
    Hawaii: 1/1 (100%)
    Illinois: 8/8 (100%)
    Massachusetts: 0/2 (0%)
    New Jersey: 0/6 (0%)
    New Mexico: 1/3 (33.3%)
    New York: 9/15 (60%)
    Washington: 0/5 (0%)

    Sample total: 24/57 (42.1%)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ryan J's avatar

      Granted, Trump shoved a bunch of circuit judges down the throats of Dem senators in California, Washington, New York, & New Jersey, which is not a smart thing to do if you expect cooperation on circuit judges. As others on this blog have pointed out, there’s a strong correlation between GOP Senator cooperation on circuit judges and % of district court seats filled.

      Florida: 4/8 district judges, 1 circuit judge w/o HSS approval
      Indiana: 3/4 district judges, 2 circuit judges w/ HSS approval
      Kansas: 0/1 district judges, 1 circuit judge w/ HSS approval
      Louisiana: 3/6 district judges, 1 circuit judge w/ HSS approval
      Montana: 0/1 district judges, 1 circuit judge w/ HSS approval
      North Carolina: 0/3 district judges, attempted 1 circuit judge w/o HSS approval
      Ohio: 4/5 district judges, 1 circuit judge w/o HSS approval
      Pennsylvania: 4/7 district judges (in 2021-22), 1 circuit judge w/o HSS approval (2021-22)
      South Carolina: 1/2 district judges, 1 circuit judge w/ HSS approval
      Tennessee: 0/1 district judges, 2 circuit judges w/o HSS approval
      Texas: 3/10 district judges, 1 circuit judge w/ HSS approval

      Liked by 1 person

      • Ryan J's avatar

        If none of Wynn, Cogburn, Eagles, or Biggs rescind their senior status, North Carolina will see a near-wipeout of Democrat appointees on the bench. The GOP currently holds 9 of 12 district court seats (1 vacant), with Cogburn, Eagles, and Biggs being the 3 remaining Dem appointees. Flipping those 3 seats would give the GOP ALL 13 of NC’s district court seats. Although the GOP has only 1 of 3 NC seats on the 4th circuit, flipping Wynn’s seat will give them 2 out of 3, and the remaining Democrat, Albert Diaz, is a moderate who becomes eligible for senior status next year.

        Liked by 1 person

  24. Dequan's avatar

    @Gavi

    I’m giving you fair warning, this post isn’t directly related to judges. But I think even YOU would enjoy this.

    Please primary her. I will donate to his campaign if he does. If only one good thing can come out of this horrible election & Chuck Schumer dumb as rock “deal”, I hope it’s a political environment in which an incumbent Democrat governor as bad as Hochul could lose a primary.

    (https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/22/us/video/the-lead-richie-torres-democrats-new-york-governor-hochul-biden-party-jake-tapper?cid=ios_app)

    Like

    • Zack's avatar

      @Dequan,
      She’s going to lose in a primary.
      The thing some folks won’t like is that if the winner is Torres etc. he or others will likely be to the right of Hochul, especially on criminal justices issues.
      The lack of housing and anger over homelessness/crime is leading to a backlash, and not against Republicans but progressives.
      It’s why (as I’ve said on here before) AOC is going to have a tougher road then a lot of folks think if she runs for Senator etc. down the line.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        If Torres is competent I will take that even if he’s slightly to the right of Hochul. Does he know it snows in Buffalo in the Winter? Does he know you don’t announce a driver tax for Manhattan before an election, then say you don’t support it only to go back to supporting it after the election?

        At this point I’ll fight my battles to get more liberal judicial nominees with a New York governor as long as we can get one that is competent. I mean Hell, Hochul is horrible on judges anyway. The only reason we got two good picks to the highest court in the state from her is because she was shamed into making two good picks. Her first instinct was a bad pick so I’ll take my chances with Torres or the field at this point.

        Like

      • Mike's avatar

        Torres is a joke, he represents the Bronx and poorest district in the country but somehow 90% of his tweets are about anti semitism and how much he loves Israel.

        He’d be a disaster for progressive voices and would hurt liberal turnout in the House midterms when they start talking about how a man representing one of the safest blue districts is for some reason one of the biggest benefactors of AIPAC money.

        and he would be total warhawk in favor of attack Iran which I’m sure the GOP establishment and Mario Rubio would love to parade around the country.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Gavi's avatar

        Haha, that’s funny. “The new Joe Biden.” Who would have thought that Biden’s name would now be used as an insult?

        Anyway, I would support a broom stick over Hochul. However, Torres wouldn’t have been my first choice because he could be divisive for Dems. His unconditional strident pro-Israel stance, at all costs (Palestinian lives, Gaza, etc.), seems to not be as nuanced as most Dems are. Republicans could very well exploit this to their advantage.

        Also, folks outside of NY tend to get our politics wrong. Torres isn’t some moderate or center-right Dem. But Hochul is! She’s never been anything other than a relatively conservative Dem. The issue with her is her incompetence. Torres represents a section of the Bronx in the House for crying out loud.

        I disagree with Frank’s assessment that New York is “very moderate.” I don’t know what gradation he’s using, but to have all statewide offices held by Dems for decades and un/under-gerrymandered supermajorities in the state legislature isn’t anyone’s idea of very moderate. This isn’t to say that we’re the state equivalent of San Francisco (prior to the 2024 election). But we certainly are not North Carolina or Wisconsin. 1 – Conservative NYers are the ones leaving for Florida and the south 2 – Liberal NYC is thriving 3 – Liberal high-earners from the metro areas are the ones repopulating red/empty areas.

        As for me personally, I am such a single-issue voter that I can’t support the current top 3 Dems in statewide/federal offices. Sad!

        I would expect Torres to make similar appointments to the court as Hochul was forced to do.

        Liked by 1 person

      • lilee2122's avatar

        NYS has a lot of far right wing in NYS esp the northern part hence Trump apple polisher ,Elise Stefanik to the UN.. They also have many progressive liberals… my district has flip flopped red to blue and blue to red several times ……Dems have to be watchful Gop doesn’t infiltrate our courts and offices in nys more then they have with their falsehoods

        Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        There are several things that scare me about New York State, all of which is a reason to dump Hochul in a primary. For one, there has been (And still is) high level Democrats involved in corruption. From the governor, mayor of the biggest city & other offices, corruption over a long period of time can drive enough voters to the other side.

        A second thing is the courts. When you have two straight horrible governors picking judges, you’re bound to get decisions like the redistricting decision we got years back. Then Republicans can point to all of the judges being appointed by Democrats to further legitimize the decision.

        But incompetence is the thing that scares me the most. Hochul being the nominee opens up the governor’s race as a possible upset. If NY Republicans got smart & stopped nominating far right hacks & went with a George Pataki type, an upset could happen. That’s why even though my number one issue is the courts, I would take a slightly more conservative Democrat nominee as long as they are at least competent because in the long run, Hochul being the nominee increases the chances of a Republican winning.

        And remember, New York governor’s don’t have term limits. So if you get a competent Republican governor, you could see them in office for 8 or even 12 years. I don’t know how much more to the right Torres is (I’m not so sure he is to the right in the first place but I’ll take the word of the New Yorkers on this blog), but if he increased the chances of a Democrat holding that seat, I’m all in for him.

        Like

    • Dequan's avatar

      I get more & more angry every time I see Schumer defend this “deal”. I swear I would sleep like a baby at night if he just came out & said he lost a card game or was drunk as shit when he agreed to this. Either of those reasons would be much much more acceptable than him being sober when he agreed to it.

      Like

  29. Lillie's avatar

    Something to remember is that Wynn was victim to GOP holding his seat open and refusing to confirm him when Clinton nominated him in the 1990s to the 4th circuit.

    If anyone knows anything about the dumb shit republicans do with circuit seats, it’s him. I can’t imagine he’d let them pick his successor if he could help it.

    Liked by 4 people

  30. Mitch's avatar

    The Biden Administration nominated some failed nominees nominated during the Obama Administration. Would Trump nominate some who didn’t get confirmed at the end of his first term?

    It’s possible IMHO. Blue states such as New York, California, New Mexico had consensus nominees who were left in limbo and returned after Biden’s election. Democrats withdrew their blue slips due to the last minute nomination of Amy Comer Barrett. However, they had no problem with the nominees themselves. Trump could nominate them again after negotiations with Senators from those states.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Zack's avatar

    https://newjerseyglobe.com/judiciary/mangi-nomination-looks-to-be-dead-handing-third-circuit-seat-to-trump/
    Yea..I get why they fought the good fight on Mangi’s nomination but at the end of the day, it was clear months ago they didn’t have the votes and as much as Booker and others might not have liked it, his nomination should have been withdrawn.
    Instead the 3rd Circuit is going to go back to 8-6 Republicans again (Kent Jordan doing what he did with his retirement date saw to that) instead of being split.
    P.S. I know people are still going to go all in on Islamphobia but it was the he supports a group that believes in releasing prisons early including cop killers like Mumia Abu Jamal garbage that did him in.
    Why he should have set up for confirmation sooner versus later because it gave the opposition more time to throw garbage against him and the minute that came out, I knew he was toast.
    As I said before, I get wanting to fight the good fight but sometimes you have to give in for a greater good.
    We’re now going to get an Alito clone under Trump again and it will be the 4th Democratic held seat to flip in the last ten years.
    Makes me sick.

    Liked by 1 person

      • Gavi's avatar

        But even as a pre-written article it’s absurd. Durbin isn’t just some random senator. He’s the majority whip! I feel like I’m in crazy town. Wouldn’t the majority whip, who, as it happens, is *also* the floor manager of all SJC nominations and businesses, know the whip count on each nominee? Or does this mean Durbin hasn’t even been whipping for these nominee? Almost a week later and I struggle to see any sort of positive or bright light for this whole debacle. Incompetence reigns!

        Liked by 1 person

  33. Joe's avatar

    Gavi, it definitely is weird. I don’t know what to make of it. Maybe just bluster. But again, it’s odd that he specifically mentions four circuit court nominees instead of something like “as many as we can” or whatever.

    Liked by 2 people

    • lilee2122's avatar

      I have to wonder. Deal says the 6 or 7 will gat faster confirmation votes first week back..And the next 6 or so will get considered after that but those 6 dont have fast tracked votes… So I’m thinkng what’s to keep the GOP from voting any of those nominees down … I would hope that Durbins opening to circuit nominee votes… Who is any Senator to say they dont have the votes without Dems trying..

      Liked by 1 person

      • Gavi's avatar

        Let’s the clear. The deal doesn’t say anything about Republicans supporting any of the district court nominees. The deal is about the Republicans not *slowing* down 6 or 7 nominees, like they did last week. *Any* of the nominees can still be sunk by Republicans if 1 or 2 Dems join them to vote against a nominee (or absences among Dems). Are you beginning to see how terrible this deal is?

        Liked by 3 people

      • Gavi's avatar

        Here: https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5006871-biden-nominees-race-confirmation/

        I’ve been a massive fan of Svante Myrick since his early days as Ithica’s mayor and looked to see him in statewide offices. However, his correct description of the deal as “travesty” conflicts with his closing description of Schumer as “proven himself to be tenacious and resourceful when necessary.” It’s Schumer’s tenacity and resourcefulness that got us to where we are, giving away 4 circuit court judgeships. Schumer deserves to be called out in the same tone as his horrible deal.

        Liked by 2 people

      • Dequan's avatar

        That’s the part of the desk too many people are still missing. To @Gavi’s point, the deal is Republican’s will go back to doing the norm. They won’t obstruct forcing the two extra votes for each nominee.

        Nowhere in the deal does it guarantee nominees will get confirmed if a couple of Democrats miss votes. Hell, no where in the deal does it even says Republicans will give voice votes to local DC nominees that aren’t lifetime appointments.

        This is literally the single worst judicial deal I’ve ever seen in my life. Democrats had 3 weeks in session left & 3 weeks recess weeks left in power. This deal was solely made because they wanted to keep half the weeks they have left in power on recess. It’s disgusting, it’s horrible & it’s bull shit. Let’s not over complicate it.

        Liked by 1 person

  34. Zack's avatar

    @Dequan, yup, they could have easily stayed in DC until Wednesday or Thursday of this week and gotten Park or others confirmed.
    But nope, they took the Leahy route of being idiots which will gift Republicans (Trump has nothing to do with this) more Circuit court seats they shouldn’t have.
    What fools.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      It’s not that simple. Had they been good at math they would have had the votes. AGAIN, there multiple weeks where the Republicans had two senators out (One for eye surgery & one campaigning for VP). During that time the senate spent valuable floor time confirming people to positions that Trump will dismiss in his first year in office. That is the true failure.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Thomas's avatar

        I would agree, that it’s not that simple. Just brushing away the statement, that the votes are not there, is too easy for me. Most people here believe, the GOP Senators are all stupid and could be easily outwit by Senate Democrats by working longer hours, cut recesses etc. I don’t do that. These guys are in the business long enough, we don’t like it, but nothing is more dangerous than underestimate the other side. When Schumer tried to file cloture on the district court judges, the GOP forced procedural votes as reaction, the same they would have done in September or elsewhere, I have no doubt that Vance or Rounds would have been able to appear im September, because the chances or derailing a circuit court judge confirmation at the cloture vote first, or later at the confirmation vote. And you have plenty of time to organize full attendance when it’s required, no way for a surprise with two days advance warting after filing cloture.

        I also think it was a terrible error to wait in the hope, that with the knowledge of having no own majority, absence on the other side of the aisle make a confirmation possible. But there the lack of flexibility on the Democratic side is to blame.

        Like

  36. shawnee68's avatar

    It may not be simple but hindsight is 20/20. The Kidd confirmation was the perfect storm: both home state Senators were preoccupied .

    When Kidd got confirmed the GOP got its act together attendance wise .

    The problem is there is no commitment amongst Dems to support each others nominees.

    I did not realize that both Nevada Senators were entrenched in their opposition to Mangi.

    If you’re suggesting that the Circuit nominees would have been confirmed if they were taken up earlier: how do we know that.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      You keep using words like hindsight. You do realize every post on this blog is archived & anybody can go back & read it right? People like myself have been saying this for years on this blog. We were continually told “They have a plan”, “There’s plenty of time”, “They will cancel recess if Harris or senate Democrats lose” & other crap like that. This isn’t hindsight.

      And to answer your last question, how do we know that, I can answer that with one word… MATH. 51 is a bigger number than 49. When you subtract 2 from the 49 because one senator can’t leave their Western home state due to eye surgery & another senator not being present for months because they are running for Vice President, that math becomes 51-47. So if you assume Manchin & Sinema are a no, that math still gives you a 49-47 advantage. With that math, you can afford to lose another Democrat & still get the nominee confirmed. I admit I wasn’t the greatest at math in school but I figure that would be simple for me & certainly any US Senator to figure out.

      Liked by 1 person

  40. Gavi's avatar

    A few things…

    Ha, Dequan! How could I have forgotten those infamous last words? “There’s still time!” Shame on me for forgetting this line that a few folks liked to throw around on here a few years ago.

    Good for Cogburn. I haven’t seen any news reports on his rescinding his senior status, but this is no longer listed as a vacancy on US Courts. But don’t worry. If this is true, we’ll hear about it soon enough when Tillis starts wailing about it.

    I especially hope that Dana Christensen continues the trend! 1 – Look at what Daines did to Danna Jackson! 2 – no more Dem blue slip to stop a MAGA pick.

    I really really hope Cogburn’s rescinding acts as a steel in the spine of Wynn and Stranch!

    I hope Dem senators are ready to hold the line and be just like Hawley and Cotton on district court vacancies in their states!

    Liked by 1 person

  41. Zack's avatar

    It’s possible some folks are going to wait until this Senate session ends before taking back their senior status in the slim chance someone gets through to Schumer on how STUPID this deal is and to roll the dice.
    Also as noted, Wynn has seen this game played before so I won’t be shocked to see him tell Tillis to shove it at the end of the day, same with Stranch.
    Have to wait and see.

    Liked by 2 people

  42. Zack's avatar

    On a different note, I will say one thing about the NY Governor’s race/Democratic party in NY the next couple of years.
    Hector Lasalle was doomed for a number of reasons beyond some progressive members/groups not liking him, including the fact he was seen as a DINO in the mold of Janet DiFiore, the judge who screwed over NY Democrats in redistricting and too conservative on abortion.
    If Richie Torres or someone else primaries Hochul, part of that will be on a platform of law & order and that she didn’t do enough in standing up to the left on things like bail reform etc. which is becoming more and more unpopular here in NY.
    I think folks will be kidding themselves if they think he or someone like Antonio Delgado will be nominating candidates who are more liberal on criminal justice issues among other things to the courts.
    The trend on certain issues in NY State is going one way and it’s not towards the Bernie/AOC wing of the party.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      But I think looking at New York long term, a primary defeat of Hochul is still win. Even if it’s Torres (Who I’m still not convinced is as to the right of Hochul as people on this blog claim he is) or somebody in his mold. Hochul is bad on judges when you look at her initial picks. She is only good because New York has a senate that rejected her bad picks & forced her to make good picks.

      To have an incompetent governor increases the chances of less New York Democrats in the senate & even gives Republicans a chance at the governorship itself if they were smart & nominated a George Pataki like nominee. Either one of those scenarios will lead to judicial nominees that would have us begging for Hector Lasalle & Janet DiFiore types.

      So to me, I’m looking at the governor’s race long term. Let’s make sure the governor is competent first. That should give us a senate caucus that wound likely reject too bad of a pick.

      Liked by 1 person

  43. Ryan J's avatar

    Glad to see Cogburn rescind, for the time being we’ll have at least 1 Dem district judge in NC. I’m sure Cogburn is extremely mad at Tillis. Tillis may have been telling the truth about Ryan Park, but his 2022 statement below is complete BS:

    “Senator Tillis plans to work with Senator Burr and the White House to help select the best candidate to serve the people of the Western District of North Carolina. He looks forward to this process and ensuring that the next District Court judge is nominated and confirmed in a timely manner.”

    The 2022 article touched on how every judge in the history of WDNC is a white male, and how NC folks were looking forward to Biden appointing the first judge who isn’t a white man. Maybe Trump will appoint a woman or a man of color to one of the seats, but I won’t be surprised if Trump continues the trend of appointing white men to WDNC.

    Liked by 1 person

  44. Ryan J's avatar

    Remaining potential rescinsions (senior status announcements with TBD dates) from most likely to least likely:

    These 3 may rescind when the new year comes:
    Wynn (4th Cir.) – I would consider Wynn the most likely to rescind given he’s seen partisan bickering and is one of the most liberal judges on the 4th circuit
    Stranch (6th Cir.) – also seems quite liberal and waited over a year to get confirmed
    Christensen (Montana) – has waited 2 years for a successor without getting one, that he hasn’t just gone senior unconditionally (as some judges who initially said they would wait for a successor ended up doing) suggested he may be willing to hold out another 4+ years

    These 3 have potential Biden-appointed successors but may rescind if the successor is not confirmed:
    Davila (N.D. Cal.)
    Saris (Massachusetts)
    Hurd (N.D.N.Y.) – if Brindisi isn’t confirmed, Hurd will probably let Trump pick his successor so long as that person is from Utica

    Another possibility is that they might let Trump fill the seat so long as he appoints a moderate, by threatening to rescind if he picks a FedSoc hack.

    Liked by 1 person

  46. lilee2122's avatar

    Just an observation. On the judges there are 12 district ones n the pipe line which will bring total to 233 if all on the executive calendar are confirmed..My thought besides THE GOP wanting open CCA seats is its one less then Trumps 234 total his first term I wouldn’t be surprised if the GOP senators want to bend to trumps ego by keeping under 234 judges confirmed…

    Liked by 2 people

    • Mitch's avatar

      The Circuit Court vacancies were the most important to the GOP. Since most of the District Judge nominees are replacing other Democratic nominees, Republicans may be willing to let Senate Democrats have the bragging rights to have a few more overall.

      Among the Circuit nominees, Adeel Mangi and Ryan Park were very controversial and would have been defeated on the floor. Karla Campbell may have been as well. Julia Lipez was mostly a victim of the calendar.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Ryan J's avatar

        The record would be more meaningful if the president in 2025 were someone other than Trump or Biden. In his second term, Trump will easily surpass Biden’s ~=236, is likely to pass Obama’s 329, and may even pass Clinton’s 378 and Reagan’s 383 (Reagan holds the current record).

        Of course, by 2028 Trump will have filled 10 years worth of vacancies due to Senate GOP antics in 2015-16. Hell, had a couple of Senate races gone the other way, Trump would effectively have 14 years in a row of appointing judges.

        Liked by 1 person

  47. Mike's avatar

    Oh cool, Trumps nominating Kash Patel as new FBI director, so cool Dems can’t figure out a way to get 50 of their senators (+ the VP) to vote for incredibly important circuit courts that will be needed to stop or slow this creeping disaster train coming towards the country.

    Again, this wouldn’t be hard, Chuck threatens to make Sinema and Manchin Persona Non Grata to the Democratic party to hurt their almost guaranteed jobs on corporate boards and lobbying firms.

    Those votes would be lined up very quick.

    Liked by 1 person

    • lilee2122's avatar

      Finally president Biden deals with that nasty travesty of the House investigating Hunter Biden .Its called what it is a huge political circus by the house GOP spending taxpayers money . Hunter paid his back taxes and admitted to having an illegal gun for a very short time and lying on a form… Nasty MTG putting naked pics of genitals on screens in the House…GOP doing that smut publicly for all to see… The GOP is very hypocritical and have an over 30 count felon heading to lead our country…. sorry guys That part the GOP makes me sick IMO.. not related to judges except Durbin and Schumer get these nominees confirmed!, Now!

      Liked by 1 person

  49. Zack's avatar

    @Frank,
    I agree Democratic voters have shown they don’t care about the courts but what Riley Gaines is suggesting has cost Republicans control of the Senate more then once, with 2022 being the latest example of that, with 2012,10 other examples.
    If Susan Collins gets primaried, that seat will flip blue easily.
    By all means Republicans should do that.

    Liked by 2 people

    • shawnee68's avatar

      @Zack- I don’t think a primary will work in a state like Maine. I can’t recall any right wing conservatives being elected to the Senate from there.

      In fact, I think it would backfire and weaken Collins for the general election.

      There was an an attempt on Murkowski that knocked her out of the GOP place but she ran as a write-in and won. Not sure if the law was changed or not but Murkowski is somewhat popular there.

      Like

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