First Confirmations After Deal Expires: Now What?

Last Monday, the last three nominations covered by the deal agreed to by Senate leadership back in March were voted on. The question on court-watchers’ minds was: How will the Senate approach scheduling confirmation votes during the rest of 2012? 

Yesterday, we got the first inklings of an answer. The Senate voted on two district court nominees, George Russell to the District Court of Maryland, and John Tharp, Jr., to the Northern District of Illinois. Both judges were confirmed by overwhelming votes – Judge Tharp by the vote of 86-1 and Judge Russell by voice vote.

So what do these votes tell us? Well, we had votes on judges only one week after May 7, and no cloture votes were required. So far, so good. As Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy put it in his floor statement, hopefully these votes bode well for making progress on nominations over the next few months, both in terms of court of appeals nominees like Paul Watford and Andrew Hurwitz (both nominated to fill judicial emergencies on the Ninth Circuit) and catching up on votes on district court nominees. It’s incumbent on all of us who care about justice to keep pressing as strongly as we can for votes on judicial nominations. We need this respite from obstruction to last a little longer.