The White House is attempting to secure bipartisan support for judicial nominees as the administration and Democrats grapple with the prolonged absence of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA.) from the Judiciary Committee.
White House officials worked with senators from both sides of the aisle to fill judicial vacancies, and Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Legislative Affairs Director Louisa Terrell spoke with lawmakers about vacancies in their states.
The White House is calling on senators to identify individuals in their state for potential openings, and officials are urging the Senate to continue to a act quickly to consider “highly qualified” and confirmable candidates.”
A White House official cited recent bipartisan votes to advance President Biden’s candidacy, including the confirmation of Matthew Brookman as Indiana’s U.S. District Court Judge and Amanda Brailsford as Idaho’s District Judge, as proof of the President’s Candidates that drew support from the GOP Lawmakers in their home states.
Biden has also nominated judges for vacant judicial positions in Texas and Louisiana in recent weeks, with the support of GOP senators from those states.
The effort to garner bipartisan support comes as confirmation of judges without Republican votes has become more difficult in Feinstein’s absence. Feinstein was out of the Senate for several weeks while recovering from shingles late last month.
In the second half of April, the judiciary advanced seven Biden nominees with bipartisan support, as several others failed to move forward, requiring the support of Feinstein to advance.
Democrats have the 11-10 advantage on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Feinstein’s absence deadlocks the party 10-10 with the GOP.
