Movement in the Judicial Selection Process

The judicial selection process has seen new movement over the last two weeks.

On May 3, cloture was invoked on John McConnell, a long-blocked nominee to the District Court of Rhode Island, despite unprecedented opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. McConnell was confirmed on a party-line vote the next day. The McConnell vote helped pave the way for confirmation of Edward Chen this week as the first Asian-American district court judge in San Francisco. In addition, the White House has submitted eleven new nominees, a considerable increase from the two-per-week average prior to May.

These developments help clear the way for the Senate to consider the nominations of Susan Carney to the Second Circuit, Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit, and Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit. Stay tuned for more news and opportunities to get involved in the coming weeks.