Federal Appellate Court Nominations Update

A little over a week ago, the Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as the 114th Supreme Court Justice.  Vice-president Pence presided over the vote, which was interrupted several times by protesters in the Senate gallery.  Shortly after he was confirmed, Justice Kavanaugh made headlines as the first justice to have all female law clerks.

Fresh off his SCOTUS victory, on October 10, President Trump announced his intent to nominate another wave of federal court judges, including two nominees to the Second Circuit and three nominees to California seats in the Ninth Circuit.  The next day, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a press statement announcing her displeasure with the pick and the White House’s lack of coordination with her.  With the midterm elections just right around the corner, it will be interesting to see if the Senate Judiciary Committee acts on these nominations.  Given my experience with nominations, I imagine that it would be difficult to hold a hearing before the election, since the Senate vetting process usually takes a few weeks.  But, in interest of full disclosure, two of the Ninth Circuit nominees are friends of mine, so I wish them all the best through the process.

Hearings are even less likely since last week the Senate also confirmed 15 Trump nominees, including three appellate court judges.  The move came, apparently, as part of a deal with Senate Democrats that would close up the Senate through election day to allow for campaigning.  If Republicans retain control of the Senate, we can expect to see President Trump plugging ahead with filling judicial vacancies.