Biden has a game plan for getting federal judges confirmed: report

03 May 2023

Democrats remain divided over how to handle Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-California) prolonged absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some Democrats have been calling for Feinstein to resign without finishing the rest of her term, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California). But other Democrats believe they should give the 89-year-old Feinstein, a key member of the Judiciary Committee, more time.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has described calls for Feinstein's resignation as sexist, arguing that older male politicians aren't asked to resign when they suffer health problems. AOC, in contrast, has said that it is "a farce" to say that requesting Feinstein's resignation is "anti-feminist."

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have been unified in their opposition to appointing a temporary replacement for Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee.

But despite these challenges, President Joe Biden is getting ready to nominate four more judges for the lower federal courts, according to Axios reporters Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson — and has a game plan for getting them confirmed.

"Feinstein’s health-related absence from the Judiciary Committee looked like it might bring Biden confirmations to a halt in the Senate, where Democrats have a razor-thin majority," Nichols and Thompson report in an article published on May 3. "But Biden officials have begun a coordinated effort to work more closely with senators, including Republicans, about judicial vacancies in their home states. The officials include White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Counsel Stuart Delery, Director of Legislative Affairs Louisa Terrell, and their staffs."

The four federal judges that Biden plans to nominate, according to Nichols and Thompson, are "Loren L. AliKhan for the District Court of the District of Columbia, Susan K. DeClercq for the Eastern District of Michigan, Julia K. Munley for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and Vernon D. Oliver for the District of Connecticut."

Without Feinstein, the Axios reporters note, the Judiciary Committee, "doesn't have a functioning majority."

"Last month, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, advanced seven nominees through his Committee with Republican votes," Nichols and Thompson observe. "But with Feinstein's absence depriving Durbin of a majority, he had to delay moving any nominees who lacked bipartisan support…. Biden's new approach is born of necessity."

Read Axios' full reportat this link.

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