The Appointment Process for U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations: An Overview

Summary

In recent decades, the process for appointing judges to the U.S. circuit courts of appeals and the U.S. district courts has been of continuing Senate interest. The responsibility for making these appointments is shared by the President and the Senate. Pursuant to the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, the President nominates persons to fill federal judgeships, with the appointment of each nominee also requiring Senate confirmation. Although not mentioned in the Constitution, an important role is also played midway in the appointment process by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Presidential Selection of Nominees

The need for a President to make a circuit or district court nomination typically arises when a judgeship becomes or soon will become vacant. With almost no formal restrictions on whom the President may consider, an informal requirement is that judicial candidates are expected to meet a high standard of professional qualification. By custom, candidates whom the President considers for district judgeships are typically identified by home state Senators if the latter are of the President’s party, with such Senators, however, generally exerting less influence over the selection of circuit nominees. Another customary expectation is that the Administration, before the President selects a nominee, will consult both home state Senators, regardless of their party, to determine the acceptability to them of the candidate under consideration.

In recent Administrations, the pre-nomination evaluation of judicial candidates has been performed jointly by staff in the White House Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice. Candidate finalists also undergo a confidential background investigation by the FBI and an independent evaluation by a committee of the American Bar Association. The selection process is completed when the President, approving of a candidate, signs a nomination message, which is then sent to the Senate.

Consideration by Senate Judiciary Committee

Once received by the Senate, the judicial nomination is referred to the Judiciary Committee, where professional staff initiate their own investigation into the nominee’s background and qualifications. Also, during this pre-hearing phase, the committee, through its “blue slip” procedure, seeks the assessment of home state Senators regarding whether they approve having the committee consider and take action on the nominee.

Next in the process is the confirmation hearing, where judicial nominees engage in a question and answer session with members of the Judiciary Committee. Questions from Senators may focus, among other things, on a nominee’s qualifications, understanding of how to interpret the law, previous experiences, and the role of judges.

The committee, when it ultimately votes on a nomination, has three reporting options—to report favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. Only on rare occasions has the committee voted to reject a judicial nomination or to report it other than favorably.

Senate Floor Consideration

Customarily, most circuit or district court nominations have reached confirmation under the terms of unanimous consent agreements. On this procedural track, the Senate by unanimous consent not only takes up nominations for floor consideration, but also arranges for them to either receive up-or-down confirmation votes or be confirmed simply by unanimous consent. If a roll call vote is asked for, a simple majority of Senators voting, with a minimal quorum of 51 being present, is required to approve a nomination.

For a minority of judicial nominations, however, particularly those facing strong opposition, the procedural track, for moving forward without unanimous consent, customarily has involved the Senate voting on cloture motions to bring floor debate on them to a close. On November 21, 2013, the Senate, by a 52-48 vote, reinterpreted its rules to lower the number of votes needed to close debate on most nominations from three-fifths of the Senate to a simple majority of those voting. Since then, the cloture motion has become the invariable procedural tool used to reach confirmation votes for circuit and district court nominations.

Nominations Not Confirmed

Judicial nominations sometimes fail to be confirmed. This occurs most often when, upon a Senate adjournment or recess of more than 30 days, nominations then in committee or on the Senate’s Executive Calendar are returned to the President.