Appointment Process for U.S. Circuit & District Court Nominations: Overview & Activity During Obama’s Administration

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 Obamas 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 book 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 Obamas time in office and that of his three most recent two-term predecessors, Presidents Reagan, Clinton and G.W. Bush.