It’s been a busy week for judicial nominations. On Wednesday, the Senate voted to confirm Kurt Engelhardt, President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, by a margin of 62-34. And on Thursday, the Senate confirmed Michael Brennan, President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, by a party-line vote of 49-46.
Next week the Senate will vote on four additional circuit court nominees: Joel Carson, John Nalbandian, Michael Scudder, and Amy St. Eve. For Carson (Tenth Circuit) and Nalbandian (Sixth Circuit), Leader McConnell negotiated a unanimous consent agreement that allows their post-cloture debate time to run concurrently. As for for Scudder and St. Eve (Seventh Circuit), this will mark only the second and third times, respectively, that Senate Democrats are not invoking cloture for judicial nominees since Inauguration Day.
The pressure for Gridlock Reform seems to be working, and I commend Leader McConnell for scheduling votes for President Trump’s excellent court of appeals nominees.
Here is this week’s update on federal judicial nominations, which includes yesterday’s fourteenth wave of nominations:
Current and known future vacancies: 180
Courts of Appeals: 25
District/Specialty Courts*: 155
Pending nominees for current and known future vacancies: 89
Courts of Appeals: 14
District/Specialty Courts: 75
* Includes the Court of Federal Claims and the International Trade Court
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Both Blue Slips Returned? | Judiciary Committee Hearing Date |
| Britt Grant (11th) | 4/12/2018 | 29 | Yes | Not yet scheduled |
| David Porter (3rd) | 4/12/2018 | 29 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Paul Matey (3rd) | 4/12/2018 | 29 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Richard Sullivan (2nd) | 5/7/2018 | 4 | No | Not yet scheduled |
| Jay Richardson (4th) | 5/7/2018 | 4 | Yes | Not yet scheduled |
| Marvin Quattlebaum (4th) | 5/7/2018 | 4 | Yes | Not yet scheduled |
| Ryan Nelson (9th) | 5/10/2018 | 1 | No | Not yet scheduled |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Judiciary Committee Votes
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Judiciary Committee Hearing Date |
| Andrew Oldham (5th) | 2/15/2018 | 85 | 4/25/2018 |
| Ryan Bounds (9th) | 9/7/2017 | 246 | 5/9/2018 |
Court of Appeals Nominees Awaiting Senate Floor Votes
| Nominee (Circuit) | Nomination Date | Days Pending | Date Reported to Senate Floor |
| Joel Carson (10th) | 12/20/2017 | 142 | 3/15/2018 |
| John Nalbandian (6th) | 1/24/2018 | 107 | 4/19/2018 |
| Amy St. Eve (7th) | 2/15/2018 | 85 | 4/19/2018 |
| Michael Scudder (7th) | 2/15/2018 | 85 | 4/19/2018 |
| Mark Bennett (9th) | 2/15/2018 | 85 | 5/10/2018 |
Nominees Awaiting Floor Votes: 38
Courts of Appeals: 5
District/Specialty Courts: 33
Nominees Confirmed by the Senate: 35
Supreme Court: 1
Courts of Appeals: 17
District/Specialty Courts: 17