{
  "id": "R43624",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43624",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 432263,
      "date": "2014-06-30",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:57:36.368283",
      "title": "U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations During the Obama Presidency: Midyear Analysis and Comparison with Recent Presidents ",
      "summary": "The nomination and confirmation process for U.S. circuit and district court judges is of ongoing interest to Congress. Recent Senate debates over judicial nominations have focused on issues such as the relative degree of success of President Barack Obama\u2019s nominees in gaining Senate confirmation compared with other recent Presidents, as well as the pace of confirmation of his nominees compared to the nominees of other recent Presidents, and the relative prevalence of vacant judgeships compared to years past. \nThis report addresses these issues by providing a statistical analysis of nominations to U.S. circuit and district court judgeships from January 20 of President Obama\u2019s first year in office to June 30 of his sixth year, and by comparing statistics during this period of the Obama presidency to statistics from comparable periods of time during the presidencies of his two most recent predecessors. Some of the report\u2019s findings include the following:\nOf President Obama\u2019s 59 circuit court nominees, 49 (83.1%) have, thus far, been confirmed. The 49 confirmed nominees and 83.1% confirmation rate represent the highest number and percentage of circuit court nominees confirmed, during the three most recent presidencies, from January 20 of a President\u2019s first year in office to June 30 of his sixth year. G.W. Bush had the lowest percentage of circuit court nominees confirmed (68.7%) during the comparable period of time of his presidency, while President Clinton had the lowest number confirmed (44).\nOf the 253 persons nominated by President Obama to U.S. district court judgeships, 219 (86.6%) have been confirmed. Of the three Presidents, this was both the second-highest number and percentage of district court nominees confirmed. Of the comparison group, President Clinton had the greatest number of district court nominees confirmed between January 20 of his first year and June 30 of his sixth year (222), while President G.W. Bush had the greatest percentage of district court nominees confirmed (91.3%).\nOverall, combining nominees to both circuit and district court judgeships, President Obama has had, as of June 30 of his sixth year in office, approximately the same percentage of nominees confirmed as President G.W. Bush (85.9% and 86.0%, respectively). President Obama, however, has had the greatest number of nominees confirmed (268), while President G.W. Bush had the fewest number of nominees confirmed (246). President Clinton had the second-highest number of nominees confirmed (266) and the lowest percentage confirmed (81.1%).\nDuring the Obama presidency the Senate has confirmed, on average, 4.5 circuit court nominees every six months. Of the comparison group, this is the highest number of circuit court nominees confirmed, on average, every six months. For Presidents G.W. Bush and Clinton, the number of circuit court nominees confirmed, on average, per six-month period was 4.2 and 4.0, respectively.\nDuring the Obama presidency, as of June 30, 2014, the Senate has confirmed, on average, 19.9 district court nominees every six months. Of the comparison group, this is the second-highest number of district court nominees confirmed, on average, every six months. For Presidents G.W. Bush and Clinton, the number of district court nominees confirmed, on average, per six-month period was 18.2 and 20.2, respectively.\nOverall, from January 20 of his first year to June 30 of his sixth year, President Obama had 24.4 circuit and district court nominees confirmed, on average, per six-month period. This was the highest number of nominees confirmed, on average, per six-month period during the three presidencies. The comparable statistics for Presidents G.W. Bush and Clinton were 22.4 and 24.2, respectively.\nThe percentage of vacant circuit and district court judgeships declined from January 1 of President Obama\u2019s fifth year in office to June 30 of his sixth year. The percentage of vacant judgeships also declined over the same period during the Clinton presidency, while the percentage of vacancies increased during the same period of the G.W. Bush presidency.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": []
    }
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  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}