So it’s finally here. After nearly eight years, and more than four hundred nominee profiles, it’s time to close the final chapter on the Vetting Room. When I first started the Vetting Room eight years ago, I wrote my hopes that this blog would be a way to “inform the general public about candidates for the federal bench.” I think we’ve succeeded in doing that. I also hoped that, by providing “disinterested” commentary (in the sense that we’re not advocating for or against individual nominees), the Vetting Room could be a part of de-escalating confirmation tensions and supporting an apolitical judiciary.
Reflecting back, there is much to be proud of. I never expected that a small legal blog started by a nobody with some assistance from his friends and associates would become one of the most widely searched resources on judicial nominees. Furthermore, I’ve received messages of praise and support from prominent liberals and conservatives who have praised the tone and content of our write-ups. Similarly, I’ve fielded angry messages and comments both from folks convinced that we’re secretly suppressing unfavorable information on nominees and from those accusing us of writing hit pieces, in one case, addressing a single article. Needless to say, we must be doing something right.
I’m also thankful for all the support we’ve gotten, not just from the amazing attorneys who wrote for us, but also from attorneys and law students who helped with research, and from fellow legal bloggers and lawyers who shared, retweeted and commented on our posts. I would note that Howard Bashman of How Appealing has been particularly generous with sharing our write-ups and with his support.
Given all this, one might wonder why the Vetting Room is shuttering. Especially with an incoming Administration that is likely to push to reshape the judiciary in a more conservative direction, and likely to be the source of dozens, if not hundreds, of posts. Well, see, that’s the thing.
Writing and managing a legal blog is not cost-less. Several hours of research, wordsmithing, and analysis go into each post, not just in how to frame each nominee’s background, but also in determining what information should or should not be included. Time spent here is time not spent with my family, or pursuing other passions and interests. Having kept up with the blog through four years of a Republican President and four years of a Democratic President, now seems like the right time to move on.
The Vetting Room is not being taken down, and the posts that are here will stay on (at least for the near future). As time dictates, additional posts detailing the history of the judiciary (some of my favorite writing but ones I’ve had trouble keeping up with) may be added.
This is not to say that it is time to disengage from judicial nominations entirely. Our founding fathers intended for the confirmation process to include public review and input. In the end, all Americans have an interest in having a Judiciary that decides based on the rule of law, rather than ideology or partisanship. And I expect that vigilance in the process will not cease.
Perhaps, if other interested attorneys come forward who would want to carry the mantle for an apolitical judiciary, the Vetting Room may revive as such. Until then, I thank all the readers this blog has maintained for their support and encouragement, and hope that, in our own way, we’ve had a positive impact on the judicial nomination discourse.
The Vetting Room 
@Dequan- I never heard of someone with a 1600 SAT score who was bad at math.lol
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First time for everything. But don’t worry, Mr. Schumer won’t need to go back to school to learn. Senator Thune will teach him over the next 4 yesss better than any teacher or university professor ever could.
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Oh really ? Like passing a Bill on Gulf of America ? Tell me what that does for anyone?
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Passing a Bill on Gulf of America means nothing because it can be overturned by the next president. Judges are for life. And for all your excuses you give Schumer, that’s not gonna change the fact that Trump will fill most of the seats he could have filled had he just held more votes on Monday & Thursday’s.
Look I get it, I’m a Democrat. But it’s ok to criticize your Party when they screw up. As a matter of fact it’s healthy. What’s not healthy is to pretend they did nothing wrong or that we are winning, both of which is false. We complain a lot about Trump supporters but we need to live on Earth One as well. The simple fact of the matter is if McConnell or Thune had been majority leader with a 51-49 advantage the last two years & had at least one month with two of the 49 out, at least 2 if not all 4 of the circuit court nominees that Schumer didn’t confirm would have been under their leadership. But if you want to not live in reality then keep telling yourself they wouldn’t have.
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There you go again. You think judges are everything but I’ll bet you never brought a case in court or even took the time to visit one.
I have to get on planes for work quite often. This business of asking air traffic controllers and other federal employees is frightening .
No judge can stop Trump from ruining the country or endangering our lives.
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I hope you’re on Schumer’s payroll. You do a better job making excuses for him than any of his staff. If you aren’t & want to apply let me know. I’ll gladly write a reference letter for you. He could go on a balcony, take a piss while you are on the sidewalk & you would say it’s raining outside… Haaaaa
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At times you sound like a GOP fanboy. Why would any self respecting “democrat” heap praise on the GOP like you do.
I think it’s the dynamic in your state of Florida. All of the right wing nuts running wild and rampant.
Leave while you have some semblance of sanity!
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This is what you continue to get wrong. Criticizing your Party is not the same thing as praising the other Party. As a matter of fact the only thing I’ve praised senate Republicans for is them actually working instead of a 3 day work week & multiple recess weeks that Democrats take. They have shitty policies but I give them credit for doing what Democrats could do (But don’t) when they are in power.
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My kids and their friends say some of what you have said . Then I ask them if they voted in the election.
Their darting eyes give them away. I think most of the problem is with the voting base.
It’s not Schumer’s fault he has only 2 extra Senators. Then there were a few from red or purple states.
Those Senator’s work for the voters in their home states.
We lost Tester and Brown both red state Democrats. That’s not Schumer’s fault . Would you feel better with Durbin? There’s not much daylight between those two .
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Well that is one thing we agree on. People need to vote. 100% correct there
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Is there anyone here any more or does the site just go blank when no longer managed?
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is there anyone here any more or does the site just go blank when not managed?
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Maybe people will say something when Trump sends some nominees to the SJC.
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@Ryan J
Eagles is staying on as chief judge for now at the request of other judges on the court.
As to the folks who want to bash Schumer, I think he made some missteps but 53 is greater then 50 or 51.
I’m not going to praise Thune because he can ignore Collins and Murkowski in a way Schumer couldn’t with Sinema and Manchin (and possibly Rosen etc.) and other purple/red state Democrats.
If you want to call someone out, it should be Biden and whomever was in charge of nominations after Ron Klain left because the pace seemed to slow down a lot after that.
I think Campbell/Park/Lipez would have been confirmed if they had been nominated earlier then they were.
And of course, Mangi.
That was the biggest failure of all from all sides.
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Adeel Mangi & three other litigation partners, Muhammad Faridi, Diana Conner & George LoBiondo have left Patterson Belknap. They joined the law firm Linklaters.
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Useful tip. Thanks.
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The hill has an article Federal judges are the First Line of Defense Against st Trumps Barrage… just can’t get the link
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Here is the link…
(https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5119022-trump-judicial-nominations-threat/)
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The Republicans have enough votes to confirm them all. That’s even if Collins and Murkowski are a “no.”
Tempting as it was , I am glad that the Dems did not do away with “blue slips.”
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David Lat has a new article on possible appointments and has also written extensively on the issue. He is a liberal immigrant who is friendly with a number of Republicans personally (he was a classmate of Ryan Bounds and they’re still in touch) and has good sources.
His sources name four possible nominees for the Third Circuit in New Jersey. They are AUSA Candice Wong, former Office of Legal Counsel AGA Beth Williams, AUSA John Romano, and attorney Judd Serrota, former President of the Philadelphia Federalist Society who lives in New Jersey.
Wong would seem to be an easy confirmation, she’s a Republican but clerked for Sonia Sotomayor and she was confirmed to the Federal Sentencing Commission by a voice vote. Williams is currently on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, also confirmed on a voice vote.
Romano may have a personal edge, he clerked for Trump’s sister when she was a Federal judge and she thought highly of him. Also, he’s argued many cases before the Third Circuit, so they already know him. Serrota would be the most controversial nominee obviously.
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While I haven’t bothered checking in here since the Harsh announcement, it’s been interesting watching the historically slow pace of post-election judicial vacancy announcements. With the three announcements last week, we’re now up to one death and six announcements since the election. The only other remotely comparable (i.e. slow) pace in the 2000s has been after Bush’s re-election. Here’s hoping the trend continues. The six retirement announcements have come from GOP district appointees who weren’t senior-eligible the last time Trump was in office. I’m curious who the first judge will be who had a chance to retire last time under Trump and decides to call it quits. One underappreciated storyline I’ll be watching is whether or not Trump’s antics are enough to scare the boatload of Obama appointees who qualify for senior status this term into keeping their seats, if they needed another reason.
A breakdown of judges (who haven’t announced their retirements and will qualify by the end of Trump’s term) by appointing party and the term in which they qualify for senior status:
GOP appointees: 115 (3 SCOTUS, 34 circuit, 78 district)
Under Clinton1: 1 (1 circuit; come on Pauline, you can make it to 101!)
Bush1: 2 (1 circuit, 1 district)
Bush2: 5 (2 circuit, 3 district)
Obama1: 8 (3 circuit, 5 district)
Obama2: 12 (2 SCOTUS, 5 circuit, 5 district)
Trump1: 24 (1 SCOTUS, 8 circuit, 15 district)
Biden: 20 (5 circuit, 15 district)
Trump2: 43 (9 circuit, 34 district)
Dem appointees: 144 (2 SCOTUS, 29 circuit, 111 district, 2 trade)
Bush2: 1 (1 district)
Obama1: 11 (3 circuit, 8 district)
Obama2: 6 (3 circuit, 3 district)
Trump1: 8 (1 SCOTUS, 3 circuit, 4 district)
Biden: 28 (4 circuit, 24 district)
Trump2: 90 (1 SCOTUS, 16 circuit, 71 district, 2 trade)
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All those district judges Biden got confirmed are a good first line of defense but very soon the circuit courts will step in for the appeals and it would’ve been nice to have 4 more Biden judges in those ranks.
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Judges aren’t going to save us. Here’s one who explains why.
https://apple.news/AzQ2GHCzaSNiPOj4yzpK2QQ
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Minnesota Senator Tina Smith not running for re-election next year. Like Michigan, good time to retire in a Republican President’s midterm to help reduce the risk of the seat flipping. Sounds like Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan already announced a run, which should probably freeze the field and given the expected favorable environment, she should start out as a favorite to win.
I also did see Batten taking senior status on the NDGA. Should be an interesting test for Ossoff/Warnock, as it’ll be their first judicial vacancy under a Republican presidency, and I believe the first judge under a state with two Democratic Senators to go senior. Trump, unlike his first go-around, shouldn’t have any Georgia nominees rubberstamped. I believe the last Republican presidency to have to work with Democratic Senators on blue slips in Georgia would have been in the early 2000s, albeit Georgia’s Senators (Cleland/Miller) were far more conservative.
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The acting US Attorney for SDNY tendered her resignation today. I wish I could post her letter and the response that from the DOJ
In it she cited the directive to dismiss the charges against Eric Adams the mayor of New York.
It is interesting in that she clerked for J Harvie Wilkenson and Justice Scalia.
It’s too bad ,I wanted to see Adams locked up with Menendez.
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House Republicans want to impeach judges they don’t agree with. In the past, drafting articles of impeachment against a judge(s) for no real reason would have been shocking, but in Trump era it’s just another day
https://politicalwire.com/2025/02/14/house-republicans-plot-impeaching-judges/#disqus_thread
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Crazier and crazier…
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This is not the first time this has happened. There were calls to impeach Anthony Kennedy after he ruled that minors cannot be given the death penalty (2005), John Roberts after he voted to disallow Trump from including a citizenship question on the census (2019), and Clarence Thomas after he voted to block the release of Jan. 6-related documents (2022). Note that in each of these instances, the calls for impeachment came from the president’s party.
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I am surprised we haven’t had more retirements announced by now. I wonder if judges are looking at the craziness going on right now with the Trump administration, these executive orders and the firings, and perhaps feeling a duty to stay on the bench. I think if Trump starts defying judicial orders, that could be a real turning point.
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That’s a really good point. I never thought about that but I do think most of these judges aren’t anywhere near as crazy as Matthew Kacsmaryk or Jim Ho. Pretty much every judge who has announced so far has recently turned 65 or is about to turn 65, and no circuit judges have announced their retirement since Jan. 20.
I wonder what will happen once Trump starts defying judicial orders (he will try, and his cabinet lacks integrity). Some may stay to stick it up to Trump, while you might be right about some getting too exhausted to stay on when the president won’t obey their rulings.
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Former Sen. Joe Manchin is joining Bondi Partners as a senior adviser.
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From the Alliance for justice newsletter…
NOTABLE RECENT APPOINTMENTS
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I believe this wasn’t completely set in stone but Mitch McConnell is confirmed to be retiring next year. Kind of funny how MAGA hates the guy while he’s single-handedly responsible for getting the federal judiciary into the shape it’s in today for the Republican Party and getting a lot of the party’s lifelong goals accomplished through the courts. While he has recently voted against some of Trump’s cabinet appointments, I’m sure he has done so knowing it’s a free vote for him and that he’d NEVER be the 51st vote to kill any Republican President’s cabinet nomination. I’m not going to pay too much attention to the Senate race here, I think Daniel Cameron (the AG) was kind of his handpicked successor for him, and if so, he’ll breeze into the Senate (no, Andy Beshear would fall to the same fate as Larry Hogan, Phil Bredesen, Linda Lingle, etc and lose by 25 points).
I know Dale Ho was assigned the Eric Adams case that Trump is trying to get dismissed out of court, I wonder if he can assert his wild-eye-sort-of-leftist description here and reject that claim lol. Also, recent confirmed Amir Ali I believe was assigned a DOGE case, as did AliKhan and I think Lauren King out in the WDWA, so good to see them getting a judicial workout from this president.
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Turtle is retiring and isn’t the party leader anymore, so he can finally speak his mind.
It remains an open question whether Hegseth would’ve been confirmed had Casey won. I’d like to think Turtle would still oppose, especially if he knew he was retiring.
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I think McConnell votes yes if the Senate was 52-48. If Casey had just hung on I would have been completely thrilled with how the Senate panned out given that entire election night.
I love the cowardice you’re seeing from Bill Cassidy, he clearly intends to run for re-election next year. Even while torching his reputation to confirm RJK Jr, I still think Trump will come after him hard in a primary next year over Cassidy’s vote to convict in 2021.
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Yesterday night, a 9th circuit panel (Canby, M. Smith, Forrest) unanimously rejected Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship. This was a preliminary ruling on Trump’s request for immediate relief, and a different panel will hear the merits case in June.
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See, Monday’s never had to have a one vote only rule
https://x.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1892876898692137205?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
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An article from Politico…
(https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/02/20/congress/judges-grassley-white-house-00205308)
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley is starting talks with the White House about moving judicial nominees through his committee.
“The only discussion I’ve had is the process,” the Iowa Republican said in an interview this week. “Just with the White House Counsel.”
The update, however preliminary, signals the start of President Donald Trump’s relaunched efforts to transform the courts. Confirming hundreds of judges — including three Supreme Court justices — was a marquee achievement of Trump’s first term that is poised to leave the federal judiciary with a conservative slant for decades.
This time around, there aren’t many slots for Trump to fill: There are just 43 total vacancies in the federal judiciary, according to a database kept by the U.S. Court system.
Still, the White House is facing a series of roadblocks from judges confirmed in the Biden era, who are set on halting the administration’s unilateral moves to freeze funding and shut down agencies. And Trump needs all the sympathetic judges he can get.
As Grassley prepares to process judicial nominees through his panel, he’ll also be working with a critical ally: The White House has also recruited Steve Kenny, a former Grassley staffer and senior counsel at the Republican National Committee, as deputy counsel for nominations, according to a person with knowledge of the hire, granted anonymity to share personnel decisions that have not yet been formally announced. In that role, Kenny would be the lead liaison between the Judiciary Committee and the Trump administration as judges are nominated and sent to the Senate for confirmation hearings and votes.
Kenny was most recently a senior counsel for the Republican National Committee, but he was a counsel to Grassley during the lawmaker’s last time serving as chair of the Judiciary Committee between 2017 and 2019.
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Now I see some are commenting. Glad I checked back in here…The tide of public opinion is turning against Trump and Musk in their uncaring chaos.. I’m quietly watching the GOP march toward a shutdown in march to their detriment…For now I’m mighty thankful Dems had the chance to fill the judiciary before trump came to office again.. Biden judges are holding the line defense of our actual Constitution until the GOP can study and learn it…
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1st Circ. Senior Court Judge Bruce Seyla died yesterday. Additionally, since his daughter probably won’t be joining the court anytime soon, it is probably likely that senior Judge Kermit Lipez will not be retiring.
I am hoping the JUDGES Act gets reintroduced again in this Congress, and the staggered dates for new seats opening is pushed back to a 1/1/2027 start date.
Getting those district court judges confirmed at the end of Biden’s term certainly proved to be an important event. Even still, we do need more judges, and I remain hopeful a bi-partisan solution is in the works to make that happen.
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Given that the Senate will most likely remain Republican in 2027, I would not support the JUDGES Act for 2027 unless blue slips were codified specifically for the first fill of the new seats. I think there are a bit more seats for blue states but there’s also a significant # of red state seats.
Otherwise I would prefer that the seats open up in 2029, and this would have to be done BEFORE the 2028 election. Pre-2024 election would have been the best time to do it though, because (at least for a brief period in August) both parties thought that their candidate would win.
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RIP to Bruce Selya, a prolific writer and seemingly moderate judge. The 1st circuit seems to be a popular venue for lawsuits against Trump administration policies this time around. All of its judges are reasonable (for now).
* Montecalvo, Rikelman, Lipez, & Thompson are quite liberal
* Barron, Gelpi, Lynch, & Kayatta are moderate liberals
* Howard is a moderate conservative
* I don’t know enough to say about Aframe but I assume he’d be liberal or moderate liberal
* Breyer, a moderate liberal, also sometimes sits with this court
* The Trump judge may be able to win over another judge in some cases, but would be dissenting a lot
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Breyer? Don’t you mean Souter?
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Breyer sat with the 1st circuit last month.
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Are we any closer to the North Carolina Supreme Court race getting resolved. Hopefully, Allison Riggs will be seated – soon!
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Riggs still has her seat since she was the incumbent. That being said, I don’t know whether she’s barred from hearing cases in the meantime.
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I’ve been following the North Carolina case closely and I think the North Carolina state courts may legitimately steal the election from her. The NC Supreme Court released an order a month ago where 3 justices were basically open to overruling the election. With Riggs obviously recused from the case, it may end up being deadlocked 3-3. The case is currently at the North Carolina Court of Appeals which has 12 Republicans and 3 Democrats, so not great odds their either w a 3-judge panel. Luckily, Riggs has reserved federal claims for the federal court so in the event she loses in the state courts, she still has another avenue with the favorable 4th Circuit.
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The stakes are heightened for Wisconsin Supreme Court too.
https://apple.news/AFT5uFGWnQ-mkDiyFOPuY_g
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I don’t plan to go anywhere.. I’m sitting back watching the GOP novices mismanage the country, say and do what they please regardless of truth or our constitution…I hope they keep it up without too serious a consequence for our country and have no time for judges as long as possible…
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I’m still here. It hurts the blog is done but I totally understand Harsh reasoning & need to spend more time with his family.
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I still look at the blog every few days. I’ve been trying to focus on the news a bit less but I still do read a lot of news.
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Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire retiring from the Senate. Not completely unexpected, given she is 78. Only risk to this seat is if Sununu runs but it’ll be uphill for Republicans to flip this seat since it’ll be up in a Trump midterm, in a state he never carried in any of his campaigns (it also voted to the left of the country in both 2020 and 2024, Biden won it by more than his popular vote victory while Harris won it while losing the popular vote). House member Chris Pappas is probably the best Democratic candidate here. Like MN and MI this year, best time to retire is in a midterm where you don’t hold the presidency.
Her NH judicial legacy includes McCafferty and Elliott to the DNH, and Aframe to the First Circuit. She also helped break the ice for Democrats federally in New Hampshire, her victory in the 2008 wave was the first Senate victory for Democrats in the state since 1975.
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Sorry I’ve been MIA. I’ve been doing a lot of list making behind the scenes though. I return to bring the unfortunate (to the many liberals on here like me) news that we have our first circuit judge going senior in Trump’s current term.
Per David Lat, Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta of the 9th circuit announced her intention to go senior in a letter to 9th circuit colleagues.
Anyways, here’s some names I’m keeping an eye on for this vacancy:
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Paul Alarcon sounds like a horrible choice for my liking so he may be at the top of Trump’s list. I’m sure Trump is looking for the first federal judge born in the 1990’s this time around sadly. Don’t forget to throw in Trump openly defying a federal court order today…smh
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Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta was well known for complaining for many years at Federalist Society panel meetings about the 9th Circuit being too liberal and was among the most frequent conservative dissenters when the 9th was more liberal to a point (George W made a dent on that) so it’s NOT a surprise now that she’s eligible for senior status that she’s taking it.
No way on earth was she going to do so under Biden or Harris.
Sucks that another right winger will be replacing her but it is what it is.
This was a seat that was never going to open up under a Democrat unless she died.
I’ll be saving my anger for the 3rd Circuit which is going to have a flip that shouldn’t have happened (Mangi’s nomination) and likely ones on the 1st and 6th too.
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@Dequan, what Trump did today and is likely to do again is where he’s playing with fire and where SCOTUS has to decide whether they’ll put it out or not.
Because at some point, blue states are going to say, if Trump can ignore court orders, then why should we have to obey a right wing SCOTUS?
That’s where this is heading.
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Exactly. That’s what I’m trying to explain to all my MAGA friends that are cheering & applauding this is what they voted for today. They don’t understand how dangerous today is for our country.
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@Dequan, I’ve known some people who clamped down on liberals/centrists saying to defy SCOTUS because they still believed in the system working and the door it would open?
Now a couple of them are saying it screw while others I know still cling to hope while also acknowledging this is bad and if Trump is allowed to get away with it, the legitimacy SCOTUS was able to hang on to (to some degree) after Bush V Gore will be gone and it will be a question of when, not if blue states start telling SCOTUS to kiss off.
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This is bad precedent, that’s for sure. The White House is now claiming that many of the migrants had been removed from the U.S. before the judge’s ruling. If that’s the case, do we have to bring them back?
Higher courts are likely to get involved.
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I’ve done some research on the case. Saturday afternoon, Trump issued the executive order in dispute. At 5:00 p.m., Judge James Boasberg opened the hearing, where he ruled against the Trump Administration. By that time, two airplanes with alleged gang members had already left the airport.
At 6:45, Judge Boasberg orally instructed two planes turn around and return to the U.S., even though they were no longer in U.S. airspace. If I’m not mistaken, the court house closed at 7:00 p.m. and the judge went into his private chambers. At 7:26, he posted his order to the court docket.
According to the ACLU, one of the two planes landed in Honduras at 7:36 and the second at 8:02. They departed to El Salvador afterwards.
The Trump Administration claimed that the order didn’t go into effect that evening because the court house had closed before it was posted in writing. Did they not check the docket that evening? Therefore, they claim that technically they did not defy the court’s order.
Boasberg had another hearing today and he was not pleased, to put it mildly. Abhishek Kambli represented the Trump Administration and he didn’t say much, stating the he was “not authorized” to do so.
There will be another hearing tomorrow. Boasberg stated that he’ll put everything in writing, adding “My oral orders don’t seem to carry much weight.”
We should know tomorrow afternoon.
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The first circuit vacancy of Trump’s second term has been announced .
https://apple.news/AXdhgwchyThawzLauzE1vGA
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Seeing how impactful the judges have been two months into this 4 year nightmare, I’m so grateful that Dems confirmed as many judges as they did and so annoyed they didn’t lock in those last few circuit court vacancies.
Boohoo, you’d have had to work a weekend!
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The U.S. Courts site lists Judge Diane Sykes of the 7th Circuit as having announced she’s taking senior status in October. I haven’t seen any other notice of this, but I think there has to be some notice to the Judicial Office for them to list it, so another R vacancy for Trump to fill.
OTOH, no listing yet for Judge Ikuta from the 9th Circuit, although it’s been discussed in plenty of places. So far it looks like Clinton/Obama judges are holding tight, so very few flips from the new vacancies. But, of course, replacing one right-winger with another cements a right-wing vote for another 30-40 years, so there’s that.
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Ughh, I’m sadly not surprised. And there’s a very deep bench of conservative jurists in Wisconsin and I’m pretty sure current Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn is not conservative enough for Trump. Too many scary choices:
Daniel Suhr (born c. 1983): He is currently a Partner at a boutique firm called Hughes & Suhr LLC. and is also the head of a conservative public interest law firm called The Center for American Rights. He previously worked as Deputy Legal Counsel and Policy Director for former Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and clerked for Judge Sykes.
Rebecca Taibelson (born c. 1983): She currently serves as the Co-Appellate Chief at the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and previously worked as an Assistant to the Solicitor General. She clerked for Justice Scalia and for Justice Kavanaugh (when he was on the DC circuit).
Misha Tseytlin (born c. 1981): He is currently a Partner at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP., and he previously served as Solicitor General of Wisconsin. He clerked for Justice Scalia and previously for Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Circuit) and Judge Janice Rogers Brown (DC Circuit).
Ryan Walsh (born c. 1987): He currently works as a Partner at Eimer Stahl LLP., and previously served as Chief Deputy Solicitor General of Wisconsin. He clerked for Justice Scalia and Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain (9th Circuit).
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The 7th Circuit is another court that will always anger me because stupidity is why it’s not a moderate/liberal court right now.
No way a Circuit court seat should have been held open for four years cuz norms but it was.
Throw in Ann Claire Williams retiring under Trump and yea, a court that could and should be liberal/moderate isn’t.
At least we flipped two seats during Biden’s tenure.
As for Sykes, this isn’t a surprise.
She is a deeply conservative jurist and as with Ikuta, it makes perfect sense she is taking senior status now versus rolling the dice down the line.
Sadly, as someone points out, with her and Ikuta this will cement conservative control of those seats but there’s nothing that can be done there.
As to a couple of the other seats mentioned, I saw an article that brought up a good point.
Cory Gardner accepted the fact he was likely to lose in 2020 and kept on voting for conservative judges anyway.
Democratic senators however, play it safe and thus slow down the confirmation process until it’s too late.
As someone said, Manchin and Sinema were likely to blame post election but before that, I have no doubt Democrats like Bob Casey/Jon Tester (especially given some of his recent comments) etc. asked Schumer to hold off.
Fat good it did any of them.
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I don’t think democrats were playing it ‘safe.’
It was noticeable that that Senate Dems won almost all battle ground states that Trump won.
I give Tester a lot of credit for voting for all of Biden’s nominees .
Montana is a conservative state and many are resentful of Californians relocating there.
No administration has ever or will ever fill each and every judicial vacancy.
It’s not gonna happen.
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@Ethan
I think that Gregory Gill of the Wisconsin state Court of Appeals is a name to watch for the Seventh Circuit. He was appointed Outagamie County Circuit Judge by Scott Walker in 2011, and specialized in employment law before becoming a judge.
Born in 1975, he clerked for a Federal District judge and was an ADA prior to that.
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@Mitch,
He’s a possibility but I can’t imagine they’d pass over younger options who were born in the 80s AND clerked on SCOTUS.
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I actually realized that Misha Tseytlin currently lives in Chicago. While I don’t think that completely eliminates his chances, it does lessen them. I did a see a few more names mentioned on by @fedjudges on X (Twitter):
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Another fact about Misha Tseytlin: he spent much of his life in West Virginia and is a former aide to Patrick Morrissey, then state AG and current Governor.
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An article in Politico says that the first new batch of judicial nominees is expected in April.
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After this administrations lies,aggressiveness, and clumsiness about so many things I don’t feel at this moment I have faith that any judicial nominees will be honest answering questions in the senate any time soon…….
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With so many of Trump/Musk’s initiatives blocked by Biden judges, look for the WH to release the first set of nominees and say that they need to “balance” the judiciary–completely ignoring the 230+ Trump judges still on the bench. They’ll portray it as the rest of the judiciary is full of “activist liberals” and they’re just trying to even things out.
Makes me sick, but does anybody doubt that’s going to be the spin?
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Not sure if this vacancy was announced here but Nathaniel Gorton on the DMA is going senior on May 31. Along with Saylor in July, these are the two remaining Republican appointees on this court (Gorton GHWB, Saylor GWB). Kind of expected Gorton’s retirement, given he will be 87 this year and from what I read was a pretty conservative judge, and would wait until there was a Republican president to retire. Given that no seats were filled in MA under Markey and Warren during Trump’s first presidency, I can’t imagine this round being any different unless some package deal is struck (Trump can replace conservative Gorton with a conservative while Markey and Warren get their nominee to replace Saylor).
As I speculated in my post about Gary Peters retiring in Michigan, Cox is also retiring from the EDMI. Unless one of the other Bush appointees on the court also goes I can’t imagine this seat being filled, although it’d be a good test to see if Slotkin would play hardball with judicial nominees.
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@Ethan
I just read an article which mentions the 9th. Circuit vacancy. It names two top contenders, one of them Eric Tung and the other David J. Feder, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Jones Day.
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@Mitch
Tung was my frontrunner. Feder graduated law school in 2014, which makes him one year away from being “qualified” by ABA standards. I don’t think this administration cares. It looks like he has a more conservative pro bono docket than Tung and he was born c. 1989.
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@Ethan
There is one card Democrats could play. They could offer major concessions on District Judges in exchange for older and more moderate Circuit Judges. I’m not saying it will happen, only that they could make the attempt.
Some on the Right have complained about a shortage of “strong” trial judges in blue states. Democrats could use this to their advantage.
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I am watching the US Senate floor live on C-Span. Senator Booker is less than a half hour away from breaking Senator Thurmond’s record of holding the floor for the longest filibuster in US Senate history. While I wish he & other Democrats had this much fight while they were in the majority & confirmed 4 circuit court nominees, I’m still proud to see Democrats show some fight in the minority. Bravo Senator Booker
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Meanwhile in the House, hearings are being conducted accusing judges of exceeding their authority in migrant and national security issues. One of the panelists called to testify, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, accused Judge Edward Chen of a “judicial coup d’etat.”
Democrats had their own panel of witnesses, who claimed that Chen and the other judges in question have done nothing wrong.
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Thank goodness for some more good news. Actually GREAT news…
(https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5226259-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-susan-crawford/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1S7BKGwSnOHGO5Zfkm2JM196zx90bvjABSM0EpbnBEJUn9DiK_ajI6w5Y_aem_Ph3G3oUnqbjWMqp-cLQsGQ)
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Pretty ironic that House Republicans are complaining about nationwide injunctions given that the US government was run from courthouses in Fort Worth and Amarillo, TX during the Biden presidency.
In election news tonight, Crawford appears on track to win the SCOWIS election. I think the next few judges up for re-election over the next few years are all on the Republican side, so this 4-3 Democratic majority should be durable. Heck, it could even be expanded if they knock off a Republican judge or two. Wisconsin is a state I’m really interested in for the midterms next year. No big federal races but the congressional map could get struck down and give Democrats a shot at another seat or two in the state. The state legislative gerrymanders were struck down last year and one of the few bright spots for Democrats last November was the WI legislature, while Trump won the state Democrats gained a substantial amount of seats and significantly narrowed the Republican majorities in the WI House/Senate (Republicans were one seat off from a supermajority if I remember beforehand). Democrats could conceivably win a trifecta and then possibly undo a lot of what Scott Walker had passed.
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I do wonder how the Wisconsin Supreme Court is going to rule now? While liberals won a majority back in 2023, they’ve been cautious so far. Does anyone think that will continue?
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I wonder if they’ll be more aggressive knowing their majority, barring some surprise vacancy should hold until 2028 (the next time a Democratic justice is up for re-election). There are elections in 2026 and 2027 for two of the Republican justices, but I wonder if they’ll draw less attention as they won’t determine a majority on the court. I’d think Democrats have a decent chance of winning at least one of them since we do have a Republican presidency and the out-of-power party federally tends to do well in non-presidential elections, and one of the coalition swaps in recent years is that Democrats now have a good chunk of voters that will show up for any election while Trump has a lot of voters that vote for him and only him and fall completely off the grid for special/midterm elections.
I think between Booker’s 24-hour speech and the resounding win in Wisconsin (and they overperformed in two special House elections in dark red districts last night in Florida), this might finally be what helps the party get back on its feet (nothing helps boost the morale of a party completely shut out of the federal government than winning the first high profile elections in the aftermath of losing power). In 2017 that was when you had a blue wave in Virginia and New Jersey followed by the Doug Jones win the following month. When we have the Virginia elections later this year, I think the question may not so much be if Spanberger is elected governor (I think she’s favored but not a slam dunk by any means, there’s still 7 months until November), but if Democrats can flip the other state offices (Lt Governor and AG) and expand their 51-49 House majority.
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With the first batch of nominees likely either this month or next, anyone want to hazard a guess as to where they’re from?
My guess is 1 CCA; 2 from LA; 1 from AL; 2 from TX.
Either CCA-3 or CCA-6.
I think that’s 2 panels, if I’m not mistaken.
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I would imagine we get a healthy dose of Texas nominees. Probably Alabama since the two senators had 4 years to think about it. If we get any circuit court nominees, it could be for Tennessee. I still wish Judge Stanch would say now she is rescinding her senior status because of the lawlessness of this administration but doesn’t look as though she is rethinking retirement.
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I agree on AL since it has the oldest vacancy. Rs love to solidify those TX courts, too.
I had thought when Wynn and Mabley rescinded their senior status that Stanch would, too, given she’s only 72. But you’re right, looks like she’s going forward with it.
Hoping that the D Sens from blue states will hold firm on their blue slips. Trump’s less popular by the day so there shouldn’t be any electoral cost.
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Stranch.
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I expect there will be several nominees from Missouri as well.
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I hope none of the Missouri nominees are Josh Harley’s wife. Although I suspect they are saving her for one of the the 8th Circuit judges
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I think it will be at least one 3rd CCA and the cca 6th circuit seat and a few district from Tx, MO
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Here’s some names I’ve been watching for Missouri:
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And here’s some names I’m watching for the 3 Houston vacancies in the Southern District of Texas:
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One of the most encouraging things is not many Republican judges have elected to take senior status since Trump was reelected. I wonder if many of them were spooked and turned off by Trump’s bonkers behavior in his first few weeks in office.
One thing the judiciary does not like or take well to is having their authority/power questioned. I am hoping Trump’s attempts to disobey court orders will backfire and encourage judges to remain on the bench until he leaves office.
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Just looked up Judge Paula Xinis (DMD), who just ordered the WH to return an illegally deported person.
Quite a journey to confirmation:
Nominated 3/26/15
SJC vote 9/17/15
Floor vote 5/16/16
This was of course during the period where McConnell was trying to keep as many seats open for a Republican President as possible. Still seems kind of outrageous.
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Three events I’m expecting are on the Fifth Circuit. Jerry Smith, Edith Jones, and Pricilla Richman have been eligible for Senior Status for a while. I expect at least two of them to take it in the next two years.
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There are two vacancies on the U.S. District Court for Western Texas, one in El Paso and one in Austin. One name I’m watching is former U.S. Attorney John Bash for the Austin vacancy.
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@Mitch, Yeah, he’s one of several names I’m keeping an eye on for the Austin vacancy. I can’t find any people in El Paso who I think they’d find sufficiently conservative. They’ll probably end up pulling someone straight from working for an ICE field office.
I dread Smith, Jones, and Richman going senior. I know that Richman’s husband recently retired from having been Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
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