U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations During President Obama’s First Six Years (2009-2014): Comparative Analysis with Recent Presidents

Summary

The selection and confirmation process for U.S. circuit and district court judges is of continuing interest to Congress. Recent Senate debates over judicial nominations have focused on issues such as the relative degree of success of President Barack Obama’s nominees in gaining Senate confirmation compared with other recent Presidents, as well as the time from nomination to confirmation for nominees, and the relative prevalence of vacant judgeships compared to years past. This report addresses these issues, and others, by providing a statistical analysis of nominations to U.S. circuit and district court judgeships during the first six years of President Obama’s time in office and that of his three most recent two-term predecessors, Presidents Reagan, Clinton and G.W. Bush. Some of the report’s findings include the following:

During his first six years in office, President Obama nominated 61 persons to U.S. circuit court judgeships. Of the 61, 53 were also confirmed during this same six-year period. The 53 confirmed Obama circuit court nominees represented the second-highest number of nominees confirmed during recent Presidents’ first six years. President Clinton had the lowest number at 50. The percentage of circuit court nominees confirmed during President Obama’s first six years, 86.9%, was also the second-highest, while the percentage confirmed during President G.W. Bush’s, 75.0%, was the lowest. Of the four Presidents, President Reagan had both the greatest number (66) and percentage (97.1%) of circuit court nominees confirmed within the first six years of his presidency.

Of the 270 persons nominated by President Obama to U.S. district court judgeships during his first six years, 250 (92.6%) were confirmed. Of the four recent two-term Presidents analyzed here, this was the greatest number and second-greatest percentage of district court nominees confirmed. Of the comparison group, President Reagan had the greatest percentage of district court nominees confirmed (97.4%), while President G.W. Bush had the lowest percentage confirmed (86.8%). President Clinton had, during his first six years, 90.2% of his district court nominees confirmed.

The average number of days elapsed from nomination to confirmation for circuit court nominees confirmed during a President’s first six years ranged from a low of 55.8 days during the Reagan presidency to a high of 366.7 days during the G.W. Bush presidency. The median number of days from nomination to confirmation for circuit court nominees confirmed during a President’s first six years ranged from a low of 37.0 days (Reagan) to a high of 228.0 (Obama).

The average number of days elapsed from nomination to confirmation for district court nominees confirmed during a President’s first six years ranged from a low of 50.2 days during the Reagan presidency to a high of 219.4 days during the Obama presidency. The median number of days from nomination to confirmation for district court nominees confirmed during a President’s first six years ranged from a low of 35.0 days (Reagan) to a high of 214.5 (Obama).

The percentage of circuit court judgeships vacant on January 1 of President Obama’s seventh year in office was less than the percentage of such judgeships vacant on January 1 of his sixth year in office (3.9% and 9.5%, respectively). The percentage of circuit court judgeships vacant at the beginning of President Obama’s seventh year in office was less than the percentage vacant at the beginning of the seventh year of the Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush presidencies.

The percentage of district court judgeships vacant on January 1 of President Obama’s seventh year in office was less than the percentage of such judgeships vacant on January 1 of his sixth year in office (4.9% and 11.1%, respectively). The percentage of district court judgeships vacant at the beginning of President Obama’s seventh year in office was less than the percentage vacant at the beginning of the seventh year of the Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush presidencies.