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Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., led a group of Democrats to formally call for a delay in the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett until after the presidential inauguration, saying the process is too rushed to properly vet President Trump's pick. Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, wrote Wednesday to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the committee, to challenge the Oct. 12 date he set for Barrett's confirmation hearing. “The timeline for consideration of Judge Barrett’s nomination is incompatible with the Senate’s constitutional role," Feinstein wrote. "We again urge you to delay consideration of this...

The Senate on Monday convened for the first time since March 25 as Democrats and Republicans clashed over the health of senators, as well as GOP efforts to confirm federal judges amid the coronavirus pandemic. Calling his fellow lawmakers “essential workers” as he defended the decision to return to the Senate amid the outbreak, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., roundly criticized Democrats for obstructing the confirmation of judges and key government posts for months and forcing the Senate to hold roll calls and floor votes during the public health crisis. “The deadly coronavirus does not take time off...

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 131 judges confirmed. 86 District Court judges 43 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices Next week will be a big week as McConnell has teed up 19 district judges for confirmation before they go on recess. This will bring the count to an even 150.

The Senate confirmed Michael Park to be a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, making him the 39th circuit court judge to be confirmed under President Trump in a process on a record pace that is steadily reshaping the bench. Judge Park joins Joseph Bianco, confirmed earlier this week, on that bench, bringing the number of Republican-appointed active judges on the chief 2nd Circuit panel to six. With two more vacancies by this summer, Mr. Trump will soon have a chance to flip control of the circuit, which currently has seven Democratic appointees. Mr. Trump...

Senate Republicans confirmed President Trump’s 100th federal judge on Thursday, speeding through a series of picks this week thanks to the GOP’s “nuclear option” move last month. Judge Rudolfo Armando Ruiz II was No. 100, approved on a 90-8 vote to a district court in Florida. The Senate also approved two other district judges Thursday, bringing to eight the number of nominees approved in floor votes this week. That’s a much faster pace than could have happened under the old rules before the nuclear option. “We’re beginning to make better progress,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky Republican...

<p>WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell says the Senate will be in the “personnel business” this year. But the majority leader’s focus on confirming President Donald Trump’s nominees is coming at the expense of any big legislative priorities.</p> <p>Nearly 100 days into the new Congress, the drive to confirm is adding more conservatives to the courts and putting more Trump appointees in government offices. But Trump’s promises to replace the Affordable Care Act, invest in infrastructure or cut middle class taxes have been essentially shelved.</p>

McConnell is finally doing what has been threatened for over a year, to reduce floor “debate” time to get around Democrat obstruction where they invoke 30 hours of debate even for non-controversial non-debatable nominees. That drags out the process interminably./.../ /..../This should help speed along the process, particularly for judicial nominees. There remain many empty seats to fill, and Republicans want as many as possible filled prior to the 2020 election, just in case.

UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT Nicole R. Nason (Cal. No. 9) Ordered, That at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Mary 28, 2019, the Senate proceed to executive session and consideration of the nomination of Nicole R. Nason, of New York, to be Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Ordered further, That there be 15 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of time the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President...

Senate Republicans are planning to advance a proposal that would dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to advance hundreds of Trump nominees by the end of March. Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of GOP leadership, said the Rules Committee, which he oversees, would take up the proposal. “I’m looking at the first quarter of the year,” Blunt said, asked about a timeline for taking up the change. The timeline, which was first reported by Politico, is the latest sign that Republicans are feeling bullish about changing the rules for President Trump’s nominees after discussing the idea at...

Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both members of the Judiciary Committee, called on the White House Monday to make a deal to fill court vacancies. ~snip~ They offered accepting Judge James Rogan, a Trump pick, as long as their choice — Judge Lucy Koh — is also confirmed. They also proposed that each party select a nominee from the other’s list to confirm.

Sen. Jeff Flake announced Wednesday that he will not vote to advance any new judicial nominees through the Judiciary Committee, nor will he vote to confirm picks on the Senate floor, until he gets his way on unrelated legislation to prevent the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr. Flake made the announcement on the Senate floor minutes after his bid to pass the bill failed. His threat could block the committee from approving any more judges this year, since the GOP only holds a one-seat majority on the panel. It’s less catastrophic to approving judges on the Senate floor,...

Incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson and retiring Republican Governor Rick Scott are in a virtual tie in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Florida. The first Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone and online survey of Likely Florida Voters finds Nelson with 45% support to Scott’s 44%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate and six percent (6%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is "screwing" over his Democratic colleagues by keeping them in session this October and therefore keeping them off the campaign trail, according to Politico's Burgess Everett. "Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning to keep the chamber in session for a significant portion of October if not four entire weeks, costing Democrats key campaign trail days and allowing the Senate to continue its work into the fall, according to five Republican officials," Everett writes . Yet, Republicans say two weeks is plenty of time for their Democratic colleagues to make their case to voters. Burgess Everett...

Liberal advocacy groups are criticizing Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) for cutting a deal on judges with Republicans days before confirmation hearings are set to kick off for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Schumer agreed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to speed up votes on 15 of President Trump’s judicial nominees, which will give vulnerable Senate Democrats more time to campaign at home this week. A senior Democratic aide pointed out that most of the judges have received Democratic support and were going to get confirmed anyway since the minority party does not have the power to...

The United States Senate has confirmed former Hawaii Attorney General Mark J. Bennett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by a bipartisan vote of 72-27. Judge Bennett, who will maintain chambers in Honolulu, was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump on Feb. 15. After appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 11, his nomination was reported to the Senate floor on May 10. He fills a judgeship vacant since Dec. 31, 2016, when Judge Richard R. Clifton of Honolulu assumed senior status. “I am very pleased to see Mark Bennett confirmed with a...

WASHINGTON (CN) – The Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed a magistrate judge President Donald Trump nominated to serve on a federal court in Kentucky. Robert Wier has served as a United States magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky since 2006 and will now serve as a district court judge on the same court. Prior to taking over as a magistrate judge, Wier spent a decade as a member and partner at the Lexington, Ky., firm Ransdell & Wier. Wier’s nomination was among the least controversial of the Trump administration, as the University of...

Follows recent tweet by President Trump urging Senate to stay in session through the summerThe clamor for Congress to scrap its summer vacation is growing louder, with more than a dozen Senate Republicans officially petitioning Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday to keep the chamber in session on nights, weekends and even through their normal August break to make headway on President Trump’s agenda. Partly born of frustration with Democrats and partly worried that voters will see a lack of progress from an all-Republican Washington, the senators said voters preparing for the November elections deserve to know that the Republican...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday he plans to confirm three of President Trump’s judicial nominees by the end of the week, continuing to fulfill the president’s promise to remake the federal bench with conservative jurists. If all three of his picks are cleared this week, it will bring the total number of Mr. Trump’s district court picks to 17 that have been confirmed since the president took office. Claria Horn Boom, who was nominated more than 300 days ago...

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he thinks President Trump’s picks to lead the State Department and CIA will make it through the Senate, despite Sen. Rand Paul’s pledge to try and block the nominees. Mr. Graham said CIA Director Mike Pompeo will make a suitable replacement for Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, since he shares Mr. Trump’s world view — including a tough line against North Korea. “He will get confirmed,” Mr. Graham told CNN’s State of the Union. Mr. Paul, a libertarian-minded Republican from Kentucky, said he fears. Mr. Pompeo is a throwback to Republicans who...

Senators confirmed President Trump’s 20th federal judge Tuesday, approving William L. Campbell Jr. to a seat on a federal court in Tennessee by a 97-0 vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said the Senate will have three more district court nominees on its agenda this week as well, but he complained it will consume the chamber’s entire floor time as they overcome Democrats’ procedural hurdles.