Law360: Can The Senate Keep Pace With Biden’s Appellate Picks?
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on May 20, 2022.
Jake Faleschini, the interim director of justice programs and senior state courts counsel at the
Alliance For Justice, said Democrats need to prioritize “every opportunity” for hearings and votes to
move nominees forward, otherwise, they may fall short of filling every available vacancy. Alliance for
Justice has called on party leaders to leave no current vacancies open at the end of this year, with
their majority imperiled in the midterm elections.
“It is my hope that this will be of the utmost importance for our Senate leadership as the year
progresses, to make sure that we get as many votes as are needed to fill every vacancy that exists
right now,” Faleschini said.
He added that the White House has more power in choosing circuit court nominees. The blue slip, the
process by which senators can object to court picks in their respective states, still exists for district
courts but is no longer required for circuit nominees. He praised the Biden administration for “making
sure they’re the ones leading” on those nominations in negotiations with senators.
“Especially because of that, and because these seats are so important and have so much discretion
and their decisions are weighty in the total number of people that they impact,” Faleschini said, “it’s
really, really important that every single one of these gets filled by the end of the year.”