Page 20 - James Arkin News Today

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to advance U.S. District Judge Leonard P. Stark's nomination to the Federal Circuit and approved four of President Joe Biden's district court picks, moving them one step closer to confirmation.

Democratic senators praised Sixth Circuit nominee Andre B. Mathis at a hearing Wednesday while brushing aside Republican complaints about the White House's consultation with Tennessee senators on his nomination, arguing the process was a direct result of the GOP's past changes to appellate confirmations.

President Joe Biden resubmitted the nominations of Alvaro Bedoya to the Federal Trade Commission and Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday, restarting action on their confirmations as the Senate began its new session.

The Biden administration's top legislative priority stalled as the Senate wrapped up the last hours of the 2021 session. But as Democrats failed to move the White House's massive social spending bill, they turned to a more successful area — a late-hour push to confirm nine federal district judges.

The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden had nominated two Black women for vacancies on the D.C. Circuit and Eleventh Circuit, bringing the total number of federal judicial nominees this year to 75 as he pushes to diversify the bench.

The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden had nominated two Black women for vacancies on the D.C. Circuit and Eleventh Circuit, bringing the total number of federal judicial nominees this year to 75 as he pushes to diversify the bench.

Judge Alison J. Nathan, a Second Circuit nominee, defended her judicial record and pledged to leave personal views out of her decision making when pressed by Republican senators about a variety of contentious issues during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Judge Alison J. Nathan, a Second Circuit nominee, defended her judicial record and pledged to leave personal views out of her decision making when pressed by Republican senators about a variety of contentious issues during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to hold Mark Meadows, a former Republican congressman and chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for testimony from the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The Senate voted 50-49 along party lines to confirm Jennifer Sung to the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday, making her the second of President Joe Biden's nominees added to that court and the 11th appellate court pick confirmed by the Senate this year.