The first session of the 118th Congress, which covers its first year, officially ended Wednesday. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have touted the 69 Article III judges confirmed over the past year, bringing the total number of appointments since President Biden’s inauguration to 166. That total included a host of nominees who distinguished themselves for their extreme views and, as often displayed during nomination hearings, for their lack of knowledge of basic aspects of the law.
Biden’s hubris in picking his nominees was undiminished by the narrowness of the Democratic majority in the Senate, which increased by one when the current Congress convened a year ago. The president knew he could rely on nearly every member of his party to act as rubber stamps no matter how bad his nominees were. He could even afford to lose the support of Senator Joe Manchin, who, after voting for every Biden judicial nominee when the Senate was split 50-50 and his vote was decisive, voted against the confirmation of circuit court nominees Nancy Abudu, Rachel Bloomekatz, and Ana de Alba and district court nominees Dale Ho, Nusrat Choudhury, Natasha Merle, Julia Kobick, Loren AliKhan, and Sara Hill—all of whom now sit on the bench. Senators Sherrod Brown, Jon Tester, and Kyrsten Sinema, who are routinely misidentified as moderates, voted for all of them. Manchin joined them in voting for other appalling nominees who were confirmed last year, including Bradley Garcia and Julie Rikelman on circuit courts and Hernan Vera and Kenly Kato on district courts. Biden’s appointments have flipped the Second Circuit from a Republican-appointed to a Democrat-appointed majority, and the Third Circuit is slated to lose its Republican-appointed edge when a current vacancy is filled.
The 2024 election presents the GOP with promising opportunities to retake the Senate. It cannot come soon enough.
Pursuant to Senate rules, most of the 27 pending judicial nominations were returned to the president at the end of the first session. Four district court nominees were not returned, three of whom are slated by unanimous consent to be considered next week when the senators return.
The following are vacancy and confirmation numbers:
Current and planned future vacancies: 90
Supreme Court: 0
Courts of Appeals: 6
District/Specialty Courts*: 84
All Nominees (via Judiciary Committee) Confirmed by the Senate during the 118th Congress: 71
Supreme Court: 0
Courts of Appeals: 11
District/Specialty Courts*: 60
All Nominees (via Judiciary Committee) Confirmed by the Senate since Inauguration Day: 170
Supreme Court: 1
Courts of Appeals: 39
District/Specialty Courts*: 130
* Includes the Court of Federal Claims, Territorial Courts, and the International Trade Courts
All Article III Nominees Confirmed by the Senate since Inauguration Day: 166
Supreme Court: 1
Courts of Appeals: 39
District/International Trade Courts: 126