The Judicial Nominations Blog

Vacancies: Courts of Appeals: Current Vacancies: 5 ( ±  0   this week) Future Vacancies: 2  ( ±  0 ) District Courts: Current Vacancies: 113   ( ±  0 ) Future Vacancies: 15  ( +  2 ) Joan N. Ericksen, District of Minnesota, senior status, October 15, 2019, 1/7 seats vacant Halil Suleyman Ozerden, Southern District of Mississippi, elevation to Fifth Circuit, TBD, 3/6 seats vacant Pending Nominations: Courts of Appeals: Pending before Senate Judiciary Committee without hearing: 1 ( +  1  this week) Halil Suleyman Ozerden, of Mississippi, to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit ( officially nominated , June 24, 2019) Hearings held and still in Committee: 0  ( - 1 ) Reported out of Committee/Pending on Executive Calendar: 2   ( +  1 ) Peter Joseph Phipps, of Pennsylvania,  to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit   (Cal. No. 362),  12–10 District Courts: Pending before Senate Judiciary Committee without hear

Vacancies: Courts of Appeals: Current Vacancies: 5 ( ±  0   this week) Future Vacancies: 2  ( ±  0 ) District Courts: Current Vacancies: 113  ( - 4 ) Future Vacancies: 13  ( ±  0 ) Pending Nominations: Courts of Appeals: Pending before Senate Judiciary Committee without hearing: 0 ( ±  0 this week) Hearings held and still in Committee: 1  ( - 1 ) Peter Joseph Phipps, of Pennsylvania,  to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit ( held over , June 20, 2019) Reported out of Committee/Pending on Executive Calendar: 1   ( +  1 ) Daniel Aaron Bress, of California,  to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit  (Cal. No. 343), 12–10 District Courts: Pending before Senate Judiciary Committee without hearing: 12   ( ±  0) Hearings held and still in Committee: 4  ( - 15 ) Charles R. Eskridge III, of Texas, to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas ( held over , June 20, 2019) William Shaw St

This week, the Senate is holding votes on the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, and the Judiciary Committee will convene a nominations hearing and an executive business meeting. Floor Action: Monday: The Senate will vote at 5:30 pm on the Motion to Proceed to S. 1790, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. Tuesday: The Senate will vote on various amendments related to the NDAA and might dispose of the bill in its entirety. Wednesday: The Senate might vote on a border security package, but the schedule has not been set in stone. Thursday: The schedule has not been published. On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee will hold a  nominations hearing  for the following nominees: District Court: Douglas Russell Cole ,  to be  a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio Matthew Walden McFarland ,  to be  a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio Robert Anthony Molloy,  to be  a Judge for the  Distri

This week, the Senate is holding votes on at least five nominations and will consider the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, and the Judiciary Committee will convene an executive business meeting. Floor Action: Monday: No votes are scheduled. Tuesday: The Senate will vote to invoke cloture on and then confirm the nomination of Sean Cairncross to CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Then, there will be four cloture votes on district court nominees: First Liberty Institute Deputy General Counsel Matthew Kacsmaryk (Northern District of Texas); Judge Allen Winsor of the First District Court of Appeal (Northern District of Florida); Loftin, Cain & LeBlanc partner James Cain  (Western District of Louisiana); and Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Greg Guidry (Eastern District of Louisiana). Kacsmaryk has been criticized by Senate Democrats over his remarks on LGBTQ people and Winsor is opposed by many activist groups due to his work as Florida's

After getting elected Governor of Florida in 2018, Ron DeSantis was presented with the unique opportunity to immediately appoint a few justices to the state supreme court, as three incumbents went into mandatory retirement due to hitting the age limit. Florida's Judicial Nominating Commission, whose membership was appointed by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott (R), provided DeSantis with eleven names : John Couriel , a partner at Kobre & Kim Jonathan Gerber , Chief Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach Jamie Grosshans , Judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach Jeffrey Kuntz , Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Bruce Kyle , Judge of the Lee County Circuit Court Barbara Lagoa , a Judge of the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami (ultimately appointed to the Supreme Court) Robert Luck , Judge of the Third District Court of Appeal (ultimately appointed to the Supreme Court) Carlos Muniz , General Counsel of the U.S. Departm

Vacancies: Courts of Appeals: Current Vacancies: 5 ( ±  0   this week) Future Vacancies: 2  ( +  1 ) Carlos Bea, Ninth Circuit, senior status, TBD, 3/29 seats vacant ¹ District Courts: Current Vacancies: 117  ( - 5 ) Joseph H. McKinley, Jr., Western District of Kentucky, senior status, June 9, 2019, 1/5 seats vacant Nora Barry Fischer, Western District of Pennsylvania, senior status, June 13, 2019, 6/10 seats vacant Future Vacancies: 13  ( - 1 ) Curtis V. Gomez, District Court of the Virgin Islands, term expiring, TBD, 1/2 seats vacant Pending Nominations: Courts of Appeals: Pending before Senate Judiciary Committee without hearing: 0 ( ±  0 this week) Hearings held and still in Committee: 2  ( ±  0) Daniel Aaron Bress, of California,  to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit ( held over , June 13, 2019) Reported out of Committee/Pending on Executive Calendar: 0 ( ±  0) District Courts: Pending before Senate Judiciary

This week, the Senate is holding votes on at least eleven nominations, and the Judiciary Committee will convene an executive business meeting. Floor Action: Monday: The Senate will vote to confirm the nominations of University of Akron School of Law Professor  Ryan Holte  and Covington & Burling lawyer  Richard Hertling  for the Court of Federal Claims, and Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Rossie Alston for the Eastern District of Virginia. These nominees were initially considered by the Senate last week. Then, the Senate will vote at 5:30 pm to invoke cloture on the nomination of Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation senior policy advisor Sarah Morrison to be a judge of the Southern District of Ohio. Tuesday: The Senate will vote to confirm the Morrison nomination, and then will vote to invoke cloture on and confirm the nominations of Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Pamela Barker (for the Northern District of Ohio) and Special Deputy Alabama Attorney Gen

Vacancies: Courts of Appeals: Current Vacancies: 5 ( ±  0   this week) Future Vacancies: 1  ( ±  0) District Courts: Current Vacancies: 122  ( ±  0) Future Vacancies: 14  ( ±  0) Pending Nominations: Courts of Appeals: Pending before Senate Judiciary Committee without hearing: 0 ( - 1  this week) Hearings held and still in Committee: 2  ( +  1 ) Peter Joseph Phipps, of Pennsylvania,  to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit ( hearing held , June 5, 2019) Reported out of Committee/Pending on Executive Calendar: 0 ( ±  0) District Courts: Pending before Senate Judiciary Committee without hearing: 9   ( - 3 ) Hearings held and still in Committee: 22  ( +  3 ) Charles R. Eskridge III, of Texas, to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas ( hearing held , June 5, 2019) William Shaw Stickman IV, of Pennsylvania, to be a United States District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania ( hearing held

This week, the Senate is holding votes on at least eight nominations, and the Judiciary Committee will convene a nominations hearing  and an executive business meeting . Floor Action: Monday: The Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of Andrew Saul to be Commissioner of the Social Security Administration at 5:30 pm. This nomination is still subject to the 30-hour rule due to it being for a position at Level I of the Executive Schedule . Tuesday: The Senate will vote to confirm the Saul nomination, and then will vote to invoke cloture on and confirm the nominations of David Schenker (to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs) and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Heath Tarbert (to be a member and chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission). Wednesday: The Senate will vote to invoke cloture on and confirm the nomination of former Texas Comptroller Susan Combs (R) to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Next, there will li