The logjam stalling the Senate confirmation of President Joe Biden’s judicial appointees loosened somewhat Thursday when the Judiciary Committee approved seven nominees on a bipartisan basis, though Republicans still maintain the ability to block nominees they don’t support.
The advancement of the nominees comes amid the ongoing absence of California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose vote Democrats need when Judiciary Committee Republicans are united against a nominee. Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to temporarily replace Feinstein on the committee to keep their partisan advantage.
Committee rules allow an absent member to vote by proxy if they are not the determining vote, so Feinstein was able to cast a proxy vote in favor the nominees who already had the bipartisan support that allowed them to move forward in her absence. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the committee chairman, logged the proxy vote.
But three nominees who were listed on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting and who would have been eligible to be reported out of committee were not brought up for a committee vote – an indication that Feinstein’s absence meant that some Biden nominees would still not move forward.
Biden nominees Michael Delaney, Charnelle Bjelkengren and Marian F. Gaston were not voted on despite being listed on Thursday’s agenda and eligible for a final vote.
Thursday’s vote moves seven nominees to the Senate floor for a final vote: Mónica Ramírez Almadani to be a district judge for the Central District of California; Jeffrey Irvine Cummings to be a district judge for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael Farbiarz, to be a district judge for the District of New Jersey; Wesley L. Hsu, to be a district judge for the Central District of California; LaShonda A. Hunt to be a district judge for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert Kirsch, to be a…
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