Today the Senate Judiciary Committee approved thirteen judicial nominations.  Most notably, the committee voted to approve the controversial nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by a vote of 10-8.  Ed Whelan’s posts on the Halligan nomination are indexed here.  The committee also voted to approve the nomination of Patty Shwartz to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 11-7, and approved nine district court nominations and two nominations to the Court of International Trade by voice vote.