Durbin: We Must Confirm Every Possible Federal Judge In The Lame Duck Session

Press Release

“It’s been an honor to serve as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for [the last] four years. We had a big job. The biggest assignment was filling judicial vacancies. As of this moment, we have filled 214 federal vacancies. When you take a look at the situation in the Senate during this period of time, it was a 50-50 split in the membership of the Senate for two years. And [we had] a very small majority in the other two years and yet, we were able to get this job done.

“President Biden’s nominees represent some of the best I’ve ever seen. For each judicial nominee, we require the American Bar Association to [conduct] an interview of their peers in the community. I’m happy to report that every single nominee from the Biden-Harris administration was considered ‘qualified’ if not ‘well-qualified’ by the ABA review.

“We have confirmed more Black women to the federal circuit courts than all prior Presidents combined. We confirmed the first-ever Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson—a point of personal privilege and pride for me.

“There’s work to be done before we can leave here at the end of the year… There are 16 nominees pending on the Senate floor—four circuit nominees and 12 district nominees. There are several more pending in committee, including two nominees who will have their hearing before Thanksgiving. There is no time to waste. The Senate must confirm every one of these highly qualified, diverse nominees before the sun sets on the 118th Congress. The American people deserve nothing less.”

Source