Introduction of the District of Columbia Courts Vacancy Reduction Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia Courts Vacancy Reduction Act. This bill would allow local District of Columbia court nominees to be seated after a 30-day congressional review period unless a resolution of disapproval is enacted into law during that period. Currently, nominees cannot be seated without affirmative Senate approval. The congressional review process for nominees would be the same one used for legislation passed by the D.C. Council. It is therefore a reliable process, long- recognized by Congress. My bill is prompted by the unique requirement that judges for the local D.C. courts be confirmed by the Senate, where nominees for the federal courts, understandably, get the primary focus and priority. There is currently a vacancy crisis facing the District's criminal and civil courts, and the D.C. courts have raised serious concerns due to longstanding vacancies.

Whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate, the local D.C. courts regularly face vacancy crises, which harm the operations of the judicial system in the District. Congress created the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission (JNC) to recommend candidates, and Congress should generally defer to its judgment. This bill is a compromise, useful to all concerned, that retains a congressional role while saving the Senate time by removing the need for committee and floor action and increasing the odds that D.C. will have a full complement of local judges.

Currently, there are seven vacancies out of 62 authorized judges on the D.C. Superior Court and two vacancies out of nine authorized judges on the D.C. Court of Appeals.

Both pre- and post-home rule, the District has never had control over the nomination and approval of local D.C. judges. My bill would not alter the role of the JNC or the President in the nomination process. Under the Home Rule Act, the JNC recommends to the President a list of three persons for each vacancy on the Superior Court and Court of Appeals. The President must nominate a candidate recommended by the JNC within 60 days to the Senate for advice and consent. If the President fails to nominate such a person within 60 days, the JNC must nominate a recommended person directly to the Senate for advice and consent. The Senate has no obligation to provide its advice and consent. Under this bill, once a name has been transmitted to Congress, the nomination would be deemed approved unless a resolution of disapproval is enacted into law during a 30-legislative-day review period.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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