The Judicial Nominations Blog

This week, the Senate is holding votes on seven nominations, and the Judiciary Committee will convene a nominations hearing. Floor Action: Monday: No votes scheduled. Tuesday: The Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of former Colorado Solicitor General Daniel Domenico to a district court seat in the state. Due to controversy regarding litigation stances he took while working for the state attorney general, this vote will likely be along party lines, with the exception of a probable yes vote from Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), who returned a blue slip on the nomination. After two hours, the Senate will then vote to confirm Domenico, and then will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination of Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Patrick Wyrick to be a district judge in the state's Western District. Wyrick is the youngest person currently on the President's Supreme Court list, so expect vehement opposition from Senate Democrats. If cloture is invoked, a vote on ...

This week, the Senate is holding votes on three nominations, and the Judiciary Committee will convene a nominations hearing and possibly a business meeting. Floor Action: Monday: The Senate will vote at 5:30 pm to invoke cloture on the nomination of Lowenstein Sandler partner  Paul B. Matey  to be a judge of the Third Circuit. Matey formerly was a counsel to former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ), and his nomination is opposed by both Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), so this vote will be on party-lines. If Matey is confirmed, he would flip the Third Circuit's en banc  composition from 6–6 evenly split to 7–6 Republican (I fully acknowledge how crude this method is to determine the general ideological tilt of the court). Tuesday: The Senate will vote to confirm Matey and invoke cloture on the nomination of Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Neomi Rao to fill the D.C. Circuit seat vacant by now-Justice Brett Ka...

This week, the Senate is holding votes on four nominations, and the Judiciary Committee will convene a nominations hearing and a business meeting. Floor Action: Monday: The Senate will vote at 5:30 pm to invoke cloture on the nomination of Williams & Connolly partner Allison Jones Rushing to be a judge of the Fourth Circuit. Because Rushing is quite young compared to the typical circuit court nominee, and has a prior affiliation with the Alliance Defending Freedom, the vote will likely be along party lines.  Tuesday: The Senate will vote to confirm Rushing and invoke cloture on the nomination of Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Chad Readler to fill a 6th Circuit vacancy in Ohio. Readler does not have a blue slip returned from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and he also was an instrumental figure in the recent litigation relating to the Affordable Care Act's constitutionality, so his vote will be on party-lines, with possible defect...

Although no judicial nominations are making their way forward on the floor right now, the Senate is holding three hearings related to judges this week. First, the Judiciary Committee meets today to hear from five judicial nominees. They are: Court of Appeals: Judge Joseph Bianco, who is currently on the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn and Long Island) bench, for the Second Circuit Michael Park of Consovoy McCarthy Park for the Second Circuit District Courts: Justice Greg Guidry of the Louisiana Supreme Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Michael Liburdi , a former counsel to Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey and current partner at Greenberg Traurig, for the District of Arizona Peter D. Welte , a former Grand Forks County State’s Attorney and current partner at the Vogel Law Firm, for the District of North Dakota Some notes: Neither Bianco nor Park have blue slips returned from either Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer or Senator (and pres...