Judicial Nomination Statistics: U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1977-2003

Order Code RL31635

CRS Report for Congress

Received through the CRS Web

Judicial Nomination Statistics:

U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1977-2003

Updated February 23, 2004

Denis Steven Rutkus

Specialist in American National Government

Government and Finance Division

Mitchel A. Sollenberger

Analyst in American National Government

Government and Finance Division

Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

Judicial Nomination Statistics:

U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1977-2003

Summary

Statistics regarding procedural actions taken on U.S. district and circuit court

nominations have been compiled by CRS for the period January 4, 1977 to December

9, 2003. The statistics are complete for the 95th Congress up through the first session

of the 108th Congress. Among other things, the statistics for the 1977-2003 period

show:

! Over the course of five successive presidencies, the Senate confirmation

percentage for a President’s circuit court nominations has declined.

! The great majority of each President’s district and circuit court nominations

have been confirmed, except for the circuit court nominations of Presidents

William J. Clinton and George W. Bush

! The confirmation percentage for district and circuit court nominations

combined was greater than 60% for every congressional session from 1977

through 1990, whereas the district and circuit combined confirmation rate has

been less than 60% for nine of the last 13 congressional sessions.

! The average number of days elapsing between nomination date and

confirmation has been higher for most Congresses in the post-1990 period

than for prior Congresses.

! Starting with the 100th Congress (1987-1988), and in five of the eight

Congresses since, an average of more than 100 days has elapsed between

nomination dates and committee votes on either district or circuit court

nominations, or on both.

! For almost every Congress in the post-1990 period, the percentages of district

and circuit court nominations left pending at the end of the Congress were

higher than corresponding percentages for the pre-1990 Congresses.

! The Senate returned substantially more nominations during the 102nd, 106th,

and 107th Congresses than during any other Congresses in the 1977-2002

period.

! The average number of days between nomination date and final action

increased in Congresses ending in presidential election years.

! The vast majority of judicial nominations submitted during the 1977-2003

period received committee hearings and votes, as well as full Senate votes.

However, the share of nominations receiving committee and Senate action

declined during the 102nd , 106th, and 107th Congresses, and less than half of

the circuit court nominations in the current 108th Congress received Senate

votes on whether to confirm by the end of the first session.

This report will be updated upon the final adjournment of the 108th Congress.

For a listing, and a statistical breakdown, by President and by Congress, of

resubmitted lower court nominations during the 1977-2003 period, see CRS Report

RL32134, U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations: Resubmissions, 1977-2003.

For a listing of all of President George W. Bush’s circuit and district court

nominations during the 107th Congress and the first session of the 108th Congress, see

CRS Report RL31868, U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations by President

George W. Bush During the 107th and 108th Congresses.

Contents

Procedural Steps for Judicial Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Methodology in Preparing Statistical Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Data Collected by CRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Resubmitted Nominations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Report by The Constitution Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Overview of the Statistical Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

List of Tables

Table 1. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Judgeships: Number

Authorized, Number Vacant, and Percent Vacant, by Year, 1977-2003 . . 10

Table 2 (a). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations of Five Most

Recent Presidents (1977-December 9, 2003): Number Submitted,

Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Table 2 (b). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominees of Five Most

Recent Presidents (1977-December 9, 2003): Number Nominated,

Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Table 3. Total Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations of

Five Most Recent Presidents (1977-December 9, 2003), Broken Down

by Final Actiona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Table 4 (a). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations for Each Congress:

Number Received, Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed,

95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Table 4 (b). Nominees to U.S. District and U.S. Circuit Court Judgeships

During Each Congress: Number Nominated, Number Confirmed, and

Percent Confirmed, 95th Congress to 108th Congress

(1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Table 5 (a). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations for Each Session

of Congress: Number Received, Number Carried Over from First Session

to Second Session, Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed,

95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Table 5 (b). Nominees to U.S. District and Circuit Court Judgeships During

Each Session of Congress: Number Nominated, Number Whose

Nominations Were Carried Over from First Session to Second Session,

Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed, 95th Congress to

108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Table 6. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations, 95th Congress

to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003), Broken Down by

Final Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Table 7. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Nominations: Number Pending

at End of Each Congress, and Their Percentage of All Nominations

Received During That Congress,95th Congress to 107th Congress

(1977-2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Table 8. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Nominations: Average Number

of Days Elapsing from Nomination Date to Final Action,a 95th Congress to

108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Table 9. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations Referred to

Senate Judiciary Committee, Receiving Committee Hearings, Committee

Vote, and Senate Vote, by Congress, 95th Congress to 108th Congress

(1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Table 10. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations Referred to

Senate Judiciary Committee, Receiving Committee Hearings, Committee

Vote, and Senate Vote, by Year, 95th Congress to 108th Congress

(1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Table 11. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Nominations: Average Number

of Days Elapsing from Nomination Date to Hearing and Committee Vote,

95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Table 12. U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations: Annual Percent

Confirmed When One Party Controls Both Presidency and Senate

(‘Unified Government’), versus When One Party Controls Presidency and

Other Controls Senate (‘Divided Government’), 95th Congress to

108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Table 13. Votes by Senate Judiciary Committee on U.S. District and

Circuit Court Nominations Other Than Those Agreeing to Report

Favorably, 95th Congress to the 108th Congress

(1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Table 14. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations Resubmitted

in a Succeeding Congress After Nominations of Same Persons in a

Previous Congress Failed to Be Confirmed, 95th Congress to

108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Table 15. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations in a Congress

That Were Resubmitted Within the Same Congress, 95th Congress to

108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Judicial Nomination Statistics:

U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1977-2003

Procedural Steps for Judicial Appointments

The process for making lifetime appointments to judgeships in the U.S. District

Courts and U.S. Courts of Appeals involves the same formal steps as those involved

in the appointment of Supreme Court justices.1 The process officially begins when

the President selects someone to fill a judicial vacancy, submitting a nomination in

writing to the Senate. Usually, on the same day it is received by the Senate, the

nomination is referred by the Senate Executive Clerk to the Committee on the

Judiciary, the Senate committee having jurisdiction over district and appellate, as

well as most other federal court, nominations. In the next step in the appointment

process the Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the nomination. Then, the

committee votes on whether to report the nomination to the full Senate. The final

step occurs when the Senate votes to confirm or disapprove the nomination.

Confirmation requires a simple majority vote. If the Senate votes in the negative on

whether to confirm, a resolution of disapproval is forwarded to the President.

As with nominations in general, however, judicial nominations sometimes fail

to advance through each procedural step in the appointment process. After referral

to committee, a nomination might fail to receive a hearing or, after receiving a

hearing, might fail to receive a committee vote on whether it should be reported.

Even if reported by committee, it might fail to receive a vote by the Senate on

whether to confirm. If it fails to receive a Senate vote, the nomination ultimately will

either be withdrawn by the President or returned to the President by the Secretary of

the Senate upon a Senate adjournment or recess of more than 30 days.2

Methodology in Preparing Statistical Tables

In the following pages, 18 tables provide statistics or tracking information

concerning procedural actions, as described above, taken on U.S. district court and

U.S. court of appeals nominations during the period January 4, 1977 to December 9,

1

See CRS Report RL31989, Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President,

Judiciary Committee, and Senate, by Denis Steven Rutkus; CRS Report RL31980, Senate

Consideration of Presidential Nominations: Committee and Floor Procedure, by Elizabeth

Rybicki; and CRS Report RS21735, U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations: A

Diagram of Customary Procedures, by Mitchel A. Sollenberger.

2

Rule XXXI, paragraph 6, Standing Rules of the Senate, provides, in part, that “if the

Senate shall adjourn or take a recess for more than thirty days, all nominations pending and

not finally acted upon at the time of taking such adjournment or recess shall be returned by

the Secretary to the President and shall not again be considered unless they shall again be

made to the Senate by the President.”

CRS-2

2003. The time period begins with the convening of the 95th Congress and carries

up to the first session of the 108th Congress. The period coincides with the terms in

office of the five most recent Presidents (starting with the presidency of Jimmy

Carter on January 20, 1977 and carrying through the first three years of the

presidency of George W. Bush).3 Depending on the table, statistics are broken down

by year, presidency, Congress, or congressional session.

Data Collected by CRS. The following tables, except for Table 1,4 were

generated from a CRS database of nomination dates and actions created by Mitchel

Sollenberger, Analyst in American National Government, with guidance from Denis

Steven Rutkus, CRS Specialist in American National Government. The data for the

CRS database were collected from the daily editions of the Congressional Record,

various volumes of the Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate, and final

editions of the Legislative and Executive Calendar of the Senate Judiciary

Committee (which are published at the close of each Congress and include a calendar

of actions taken on every judicial nomination referred to the committee during that

Congress).

Data collection focused on the dates and procedural actions taken on

nominations made to judgeships in the U.S. District Courts (including the Territorial

district courts) and the U.S. Courts of Appeals in the 1977-2003 period. (Note:

Courts within the latter system are often called circuit courts, because they are

divided into 12 geographic circuits and an additional nationwide circuit having

specialized subject matter jurisdiction; in the following pages and tables, nominations

to court of appeals judgeships are referred to as “circuit court nominations,” and the

courts are referred to as “circuit courts.”) The primary purpose in compiling these

statistics was to provide a comparative look — from presidency to presidency, from

Congress to Congress, and from one congressional session to another — at the

number of district and circuit court nominations submitted to the Senate, the number

and percentage receiving committee and Senate action, and the average time taken

to hold hearings, conduct committee votes, and conduct Senate votes on the

nominations.

Resubmitted Nominations. Most of the following statistical tables account

for all nominations made to district and circuit court judgeships during the 19772003 period. These tables, in other words, account for every instance in which a

district or circuit court nomination was made, including renominations of individuals

3

The 1977 starting point for the time period examined is the same as that of several earlier

multi-year statistical studies of the lower court appointment process. See Garland W.

Allison, “Delay in Senate Confirmation of Federal Judicial Nominees,” Judicature, vol. 80

(July-Aug. 1996), pp. 8-15; Miller Center of Public Affairs, Improving the Process of

Appointing Federal Judges: A Report of the Miller Center Commission on the Selection of

Federal Judges (Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1996), 42 p.; and “Report of the

Task Force on Federal Judicial Selection,” in Uncertain Justice: Politics and America’s

Courts: The Reports of the Task Forces of Citizens For Independent Courts (New York: The

Century Foundation Press, 2000), pp. 11-75.

4

The data for Table 1, involving annual number of judgeships and vacancies, were supplied

by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

CRS-3

to the same judgeship. However, three of the statistical tables — Table 2(b), Table

4(b), and Table 5(c) — are different, in that they account only for the number of

individuals nominated. These tables exclude from their totals the number of

“resubmitted” nominations — i.e., those made when individuals were renominated

to the same judgeship. Calculations in these tables adjust downward the number of

total nominations by the number of resubmissions to show the number of actual

persons nominated and the percentage of persons nominated who were confirmed.

The distinction between the number of nominations and the number of

nominees can be an important one — especially when a substantial number of

individuals are nominated more than once to the same judgeship within a given time

frame. If resubmitted nominations are included in the nominations total for a

particular presidency, Congress, or session of Congress, the confirmation percentage

for that time frame will be less than if the resubmitted nominations are excluded.5

For a table to accurately present the total number of persons nominated, and the

percentage of them confirmed, it is necessary to count only nominees — by

subtracting the number of resubmissions made within the given time frame from the

number of total nominations. These adjustments have been made in Tables 2(b),

4(b), and 5(b). Hence, while Tables 2(a), 4(a), and 5(a) account for nominations in

recent presidencies, Congresses, and sessions of Congress, Tables 2(b), 4(b), and

5(b) serve as companion tables, accounting only for nominees within the same time

frames.

The differences between total nominations and total nominees are most

pronounced in the 107th Congress. Compared with other Congresses in the 19772003 period, an unusually high number of judicial nominations were resubmitted

during the 107th Congress — 20 district court and 21 circuit court nominations.6

Because of these additional nominations, the confirmation percentages for district

court nominations, circuit court nominations, and district and circuit nominations

combined in the 107th Congress are significantly less than the confirmation

percentages for nominees in these categories. Differences between confirmation

percentages for nominations and nominees exist as well in other Congresses in which

nominations were resubmitted, but to a lesser degree than in the 107th Congress. To

compare the percentages of nominations confirmed with percentages of nominees

confirmed in each Congress, see Table 4(a) and Table 4(b), respectively.

5

Resubmitted nominations also serve to skew downward calculations of the average time

taken on nominations on the appointment process. Resubmissions of nominations within

a Congress, or in a succeeding Congress, will cause, for time averaging purposes, the overall

time in which each of the individuals in question was in nominee status to be divided by two

or more time segments, rather than by just one.

6

During the 107th Congress, the Senate, upon adjourning for its August 2001 recess,

returned 20 district court nominations and 20 circuit court nominations to President George

W. Bush, who in turn resubmitted all 40 nominations to the Senate when it reconvened on

Sept. 4, 2001. One other circuit court nomination was resubmitted during the 107th Congress

as well — when President Bush, after having withdrawn a nomination initially made by

outgoing President William J. Clinton, renominated the individual. See Table 15.

CRS-4

Two other tables in the following pages focus exclusively on resubmitted

nominations. Table 14, starting with the 95th Congress, shows the number of

unconfirmed U.S. district and circuit court nominations in each Congress which were

resubmitted in the next Congress and the number of these resubmitted nominations

that were confirmed. Table 15, also starting with the 95th Congress, shows the

number of unconfirmed district and circuit court nominations in each Congress which

were resubmitted later in the same Congress and the number of these resubmissions

that were confirmed.7

Report by The Constitution Project. The tables below provide judicial

nomination and confirmation data similar in significant respects to data released

recently by The Constitution Project, a bipartisan nonprofit organization

headquartered in Washington, D.C. In a 1999 report,8 and in an updated report

released in January 2002,9 The Constitution Project and Professor Wendy Martinek

of Binghamton University analyzed nomination and confirmation data for lower

federal judges from 1977 through 2001. A principal purpose of their reports was to

determine the average time taken to nominate and confirm federal judges and to

determine to what extent that time average had changed over the years spanned by

the study. Hence, The Constitution Project and CRS databases are similar in their

scope, in recording and counting the number of days between nomination dates and

confirmation or other final actions.

Distinct from the CRS database, The Constitution Project reports also have

calculated, for each President during the 1977-2001 period, the average number of

days elapsing between the creation of judicial vacancies and a President’s nomination

of judicial candidates.10 For its part, the CRS database, and the tables below, are

distinctive in counting hearings and committee votes, as well as Senate votes and

other final actions on district and circuit court nominations, and for determining timelapse averages not only between nomination and Senate and other final action but

also between nomination and hearings, and nomination and committee votes.

7

For a list, as well as a statistical breakdown, by President and by Congress, of resubmitted

lower court nominations during the 1977-2003 period, see CRS Report RL32134, U.S.

Circuit and District Court Nominations: Resubmissions, 1977-2003, by Mitchel A.

Sollenberger..

8

“Report of the Task Force on Federal Judicial Selection,” in Uncertain Justice: Politics

and America’s Courts, pp. 11-75.

9

“‘Justice Held Hostage’: An Update of the 1999 Study by The Constitution Project and

Wendy Martinek, Ph.d., of Binghamton State University, January 2002,” available at

[http://www.constitutionproject.org/ci/reports/fedcourtupd.pdf], visited Feb. 19, 2004.

10

The Constitution Project studies also collected data on the gender and race of each

nominee to determine to what extent the “success rate” (the percentage of all nominations

that were actually confirmed) and average number of days between nomination and final

action varied, according to the gender or race of the nominees. The studies also examined

the effect of “divided government” (when one party has control of the Senate and the other

party the White House) on confirmation “success rates” and average number of days

between nomination and final action.

CRS-5

Overview of the Statistical Tables

Table 1 identifies the annual number of full-time district and circuit court

judgeships authorized by law and the number and percentage of these judgeships

which were vacant at a specified time each year. Also, the notes to Table 1 indicate

when legislation was enacted, or when other developments occurred, which changed

the number of judgeships authorized by law. In Table 1, the 5.4% vacancy

percentage for U.S. district and circuit court judgeships combined, as of September

30, 2003, was the lowest vacancy percentage for combined district and circuit

judgeships since 1988.

Tables 2(a), 2(b), and 3 provide a presidency-by-presidency breakdown of

judicial nomination and confirmation statistics for the 1977-2003 period. Table 2(a)

shows the number of district and circuit court nominations submitted by each

President and the number and percentage of these nominations confirmed by the

Senate. A companion table, Table 2(b), shows the number of persons nominated by

each President to district and circuit court judgeships, and the number and percentage

of them who were confirmed. (The number of persons nominated in both court

categories was arrived at by subtracting from a President’s total nominations, shown

in Table 2(a), the number of nominations that the President resubmitted.) Tables

2(a) and 2(b) reveal, over the course of five successive presidencies, a continuing

decline in the confirmation percentage for nominations, and nominees, to circuit

court judgeships, as well as for district and circuit court judgeships combined.

Table 3 breaks down each President’s district and circuit court nomination

totals by the type of final action taken on them, with every nomination categorized

according to one of four possible types of final action: (1) confirmation by the

Senate; (2) withdrawal by the President; (3) Senate return of the nomination to the

President upon a Senate adjournment or recess or more than 30 days; or (4) Senate

rejection by a vote disapproving a nomination. The table shows that the great

majority of nominations during the 1977-2003 period were confirmed, except for the

circuit court nominations of Presidents William J. Clinton and George W. Bush. In

the case of President Clinton’s circuit nominations, almost as many were either

returned or withdrawn (50) as were confirmed (65). In the case of President Bush,

more circuit nominations were returned (35) than were confirmed (30). Further, the

table shows that the number of withdrawals per President has varied — from 20 for

Clinton, eight for Ronald Reagan, and six for Jimmy Carter, to one each for George

H. W. Bush and George W. Bush — and that the Senate has voted its disapproval of

a nomination only once.

Tables 4(a) through 8 provide judicial nominations statistics by Congress.

Table 4(a) presents, for each Congress during the 1977-2003 period, the number of

district and circuit court nominations received by the Senate, and the number and

percent of those nominations confirmed. A companion table, Table 4(b), presents

the number of persons nominated to district and circuit court judgeships during each

Congress, and the number and percentage of them who were confirmed. The two

tables indicate that during three Congresses (the 96th, 99th, and 102nd), significantly

more district and circuit court nominations were received by the Senate, and more

persons were nominated to these judgeships, than during the immediately preceding

CRS-6

Congress. In the case of each of the three Congresses, a statute creating new

judgeships had been enacted the year before. (The precise number of judgeships that

were created by each statute are given in source notes to Table 1.) Table 4(a) shows

that in a fourth Congress as well (the 107th), significantly more nominations were

received by the Senate than during the immediately preceding Congress. In this case,

the relatively large numbers of district and circuit court nominations received were

attributable in part to the return by the Senate of a significant number of nominations

to the President at the start of an August recess, followed by the renomination of all

of the individuals involved when the Senate reconvened in September.

Tables 4(a) and 4(b) show for the 1977-2000 period an uninterrupted pattern

in which the Senate confirmed a smaller percentage of a President’s district and

circuit nominations, and nominees, during the second Congress of the President’s

term in office than in the first Congress of the presidential term. Table 4(b) also

shows that the same confirmation pattern is holding thus far for both district and

circuit nominees during the 2001-2003 period (spanning the 107th Congress and the

first session of the current 108th Congress). Whether or not the pattern ultimately will

be the same upon the final adjournment of the 108th Congress remains to be seen.

Tables 5(a) and 5(b) present district and circuit court nominations and

confirmations statistics for each session of Congress. Specifically, Table 5(a) shows

the number of nominations received in each congressional session, the number of

nominations carried over (i.e., remaining in “status quo”) from the first session to the

second session, and the number and percent confirmed each session.11 A companion

table, Table 5(b), presents the number of persons nominated to district and circuit

court judgeships during each session, and the number and percentage of them who

were confirmed. The tables show that the confirmation percentages for district and

circuit court nominations combined, and for district and circuit court nominees

combined, were greater than 60% for every congressional session during the years

1977 through 1990 and that, by contrast, from 1991 to December 9, 2003, the district

and circuit combined confirmation rates, for both nominations and nominees, have

been less than 60% for nine of the last 13 congressional sessions (including the first

session of the 108th Congress).

Table 6 breaks down, for each Congress, the total number of district and circuit

court nominations by the final action taken on them. Final action, as in Table 3,

covers one of four mutually exclusive outcomes: confirmation by the Senate;

withdrawal by the President; Senate return of the nomination to the President upon

a Senate adjournment or recess or more than 30 days; and Senate rejection by a vote

disapproving a nomination. The table shows that during the Congresses coinciding

with the last two years of the presidencies of George H. W. Bush and William J.

Clinton and with the first two years of the presidency of George W. Bush (the 102nd,

106th, and 107th Congresses respectively), the Senate returned substantially more

judicial nominations (54 during the 102nd Congress, 42 during the 106th Congress,

and 70 during the 107th Congress) than during any other Congresses in the 1977-2002

11

For each Congress, the number of nominations carried over from the first session is added

to the number of nominations received in the second session — the sum of which is the total

number of nominations that were pending at some point during the second session.

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period. In the case of the 70 returned judicial nominations of George W. Bush, 40

of the returns occurred at the start of the Senate’s August 2001 recess in the first

session of the 107th Congress.12 (On August 3, 2001, just before it adjourned for its

August recess, the Senate, in an unusual pre-adjournment stalemate, failed to reach

a unanimous consent agreement to have all or nearly all nominations then pending

remain in status quo over the recess, resulting in the return of 164 nominations,

including 20 district court and 20 circuit court nominations.)13

Table 7 focuses on the number of district and circuit court nominations pending

at the final adjournment of each Congress.14 The number of judicial nominations

pending at the end of each Congress is broken down between those which received,

and those which did not receive, a committee hearing. Further, the number is

presented as a percentage of all nominations received by the Senate during the

Congress. Table 7 shows, over the 1977-2002 period, a consistent pattern: In each

Congress ending in a presidential election year, judicial nominations pending at the

final adjournment constituted a larger percentage of all nominations received than in

either the immediately preceding or immediately following Congress.15 The table

also shows that for 10 of the 13 Congresses in the 1977-2002 time frame, the

percentages of circuit court nominations left pending at the end of the Congresses

were higher than corresponding percentages for district court nominations.

Table 8 presents, for each Congress, the average number of days which elapsed

between the President’s submission of judicial nominations to the Senate and the

dates on which the nominations received final action. For district and circuit court

nominations respectively, in each Congress, the table shows two time-lapse averages:

first, for successful nominations, the average number of days between nomination

and confirmation; second, for unconfirmed nominations, the average number of days

between nomination and withdrawal by the President, return by the Senate (upon an

adjournment or recess of more than 30 days), or rejection by Senate vote.16 Table 8

12

Nearly all of the returns in the 102nd and 106th Congresses, by contrast, were made at the

close of the Congresses, allowing Presidents George H. W. Bush and William J. Clinton, if

they were so inclined, to resubmit the nominations only as out-going Presidents during the

first few weeks of the next Congress — after which, it might be anticipated, any such

resubmitted nominations likely would be withdrawn by the incoming President. In this

respect, the returns were in contrast to the nominations made in earlier Congresses, when

there remained to Presidents Bush and Clinton the opportunity to resubmit the nominations

in Congresses coinciding with years remaining in their presidencies.

13

See “Unanimous Consent Request — Executive Calendar,” Congressional Record, daily

edition, vol. 147 (Aug. 3, 2001), pp. S8888-S8891.

14

Nominations data for the current 108th Congress are incomplete for purposes of Table 7

and therefore are excluded from the table.

15

The highest combined number of district and circuit nominations pending at the end of a

Congress were the 53 nominations by President George H. W. Bush, at the end of the 102nd

Congress; the next highest number were the 41 nominations by President Clinton pending

at the end of the 106th Congress.

16

Averages are not provided for unconfirmed nominations in the 108th Congress, because

as of Dec. 9, 2003 all of the unconfirmed nominations, except for one, were pending (and,

(continued...)

CRS-8

shows that the average number of days elapsing from nomination date to final action,

for both district and circuit nominations, has been much higher for most Congresses

in the post-1990 period than for prior Congresses.17 The table also shows a general

pattern in which the average number of days elapsing between nomination date and

final action increased in Congresses ending in a presidential election year and

decreased in the following Congress, only to increase again in the next Congress

ending in a presidential election year.

Tables 9, 10 and 11 provide statistics for committee action, as well as for

Senate or other final action, in the judicial appointment process. Table 9 shows, for

each Congress, how many district court and circuit court nominations were referred

to the Senate Judiciary Committee, received a committee hearing, were voted on by

the committee, and received a Senate vote on whether to confirm. Table 10 provides

these same statistics for each session of Congress.18 The two tables show that in the

case of most Congresses during the 1977-2003 period, the vast majority of judicial

nominations submitted received committee hearings and votes as well as full Senate

votes. Exceptions to this generalization were the 102nd, 106th, and the 107th

Congresses, where there was a sharp drop-off in the share of nominations receiving

committee hearings or votes. In the first session of the 108th Congress, Table 10

shows, most district and circuit court nominations received hearings and committee

votes (although less than half of the circuit nominations received Senate votes on

whether to confirm). The data for the 108th Congress, however, are incomplete and

hence, for purposes of Table 9, must await the final adjournment of the Congress.

Table 11 presents for each Congress the average number of days between the

President’s submission of judicial nominations to the Senate and the dates on which

the nominations received a hearing or a committee vote. The table shows, among

other things, that the 100th Congress, in 1987-1988, was the first Congress in the

time period of this study during which an average of more than 100 days elapsed

16

(...continued)

thus, had yet to receive final action).

17

The table shows that a forerunner of these relatively high time averages for the most

recent Congresses was the 100th Congress, when the average times elapsing between

nomination date and final action for all district court nominations (136 days) and for all

circuit court nominations (172 days) were more than three times greater than the time

averages of four of the previous five Congresses. Standing out among the five earliest

Congresses in the 1977-1986 period for its relatively high average times between

nomination date and final action was the 96th Congress (1979-1980). A major contributing

factor in the increased average times between nomination date and final action in the 96th

Congress likely was the statutory creation in 1978 of 117 new district judgeships and 35 new

circuit judgeships (see Table 1 and applicable table note), which resulted in an unusually

heavy nominations workload for the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate as a whole

in 1979 and 1980.

18

In some of the 2-year periods of Table 10, it should be noted, various nominations

referred to committee in the first year received hearings, committee votes, or Senate votes

only in the second year (the second session of that particular Congress). This carryover of

action on nominations into the second year explains why, in some cases, numbers in the

action columns for the second year of a 2-year period are higher than the number of

nominations referred to committee in the second year.

CRS-9

between nomination dates and committee votes on district and circuit court

nominations. The average time elapsing between nomination date and committee

vote has exceeded 100 days, for district court or circuit court nominations (or for

both) in five of the eight Congresses since the 100th Congress.

Table 12 focuses on judicial confirmation percentages in the context of party

control of the presidency and the Senate. Specifically, the table differentiates

between time periods when one party controlled both the presidency and the Senate

(referred to as periods of “unified government”) and when the presidency and the

Senate were controlled by opposing parties (referred to as periods of “divided

government”). Table 12 presents annual and multi-year percentages of district and

circuit court nominations confirmed for each “unified government” and “divided

government” time period. The table reveals that during periods of “unified

government,” the multi-year confirmation percentages for district and circuit

nominations combined were higher than during periods of “divided government.”

Table 12 also shows that the multi-year confirmation percentage for circuit court

nominations fell to 50% or below during three periods of “divided government” —

those coinciding with the 100th Congress, with the 104th to 106th Congresses, and

with most, but not all, of the107th Congress.

Table 13 presents Senate Judiciary Committee votes on lower court

nominations other than those approving motions to report favorably. Specifically,

this table lists every vote by the Committee, during the 1977-2003 period, on

motions made to report a circuit or district court nomination adversely or without

recommendation, as well as motions to report favorably which were defeated.

Arranged chronologically by the date each nomination was received in the Senate,

the table lists, for each nomination, the motion and vote of the Judiciary Committee

and the final outcome in the Senate.19

Table 14 presents the number of unconfirmed district and circuit court

nominations in each Congress which were resubmitted in the next Congress and the

number of these resubmitted nominations that were confirmed. The table indicates

that during the 99th, 105th and 108th Congresses, significantly more U.S. district court

nominations were resubmitted by the President from the previous Congress than

during any other periods.

Table 15 presents the number of unconfirmed district and circuit court

nominations in each Congress that were resubmitted later in that same Congress,

and the number of these resubmissions that were confirmed. The table reveals that

one or more resubmissions occurred within a Congress during six of the 14

Congresses covered for this report. The 107th Congress recorded the most instances

of resubmissions within a Congress, 41 — more than four times as many as the next

highest number of resubmissions, nine, in the 99th Congress.

19

For a report which reviews instances, from 1939 through 2003, in which the Senate or

the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to reject, table, or report lower court nominations

other than favorably, see CRS Report RS21734, Votes Other Than Favorably on Judicial

Nominations, 1939-2003, by Mitchel A. Sollenberger.

CRS-10

Table 1. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Judgeships:

Number Authorized, Number Vacant, and Percent Vacant, by Year, 1977-2003

Year

1977

1978

1979 c

1980

1981

1982 d

1983 e

1984

1985f

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991 g

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996 h

1997

1998 i

1999

2000 j

2001 k

2002

2003 l

a

District Courtsb

Authorized

Percent

Vacancies

Judgeships

Vacant

398

25

6.3%

399

15

3.8%

516

119

23.1%

516

32

6.2%

516

41

7.9%

515

20

3.9%

515

25

4.9%

515

16

3.1%

575

75

13.0%

575

40

7.0%

575

43

7.5%

575

28

4.9%

575

36

6.3%

575

34

5.9%

649

112

17.3%

649

84

12.9%

649

107

16.5%

649

60

9.2%

649

46

7.1%

647

44

6.8%

647

69

10.7%

646

55

8.5%

646

38

5.9%

655

43

6.6%

665

75

11.3%

665

51

7.7%

680

28

4.1%

Circuit Courts

Authorized

Percent

Vacancies

Judgeships

Vacant

97

10

10.3%

97

2

2.1%

132

38

28.8%

132

6

4.5%

132

9

6.8%

132

7

5.3%

144

4

2.8%

144

2

1.4%

168

22

13.1%

168

11

6.5%

168

13

7.7%

168

10

6.0%

168

12

7.1%

168

10

6.0%

179

24

13.4%

179

17

9.5%

179

20

11.2%

179

18

10.1%

179

11

6.1%

179

18

10.1%

179

24

13.4%

179

17

9.5%

179

24

13.4%

179

23

12.8%

179

32

17.9%

179

27

15.1%

179

18

10.1%

District and Circuit combined

Authorized

Percent

Vacancies

Judgeships

Vacant

495

35

7.1%

496

17

3.4%

648

157

24.2%

648

38

5.9%

648

50

7.7%

647

27

4.2%

659

29

4.4%

659

18

2.7%

743

97

13.1%

743

51

6.9%

743

56

7.5%

743

38

5.1%

743

48

6.5%

743

44

5.9%

828

136

16.4%

828

101

12.2%

828

127

15.3%

828

78

9.4%

828

57

6.9%

826

62

7.5%

826

93

11.3%

825

72

8.7%

825

62

7.5%

834

66

7.9%

844

107

12.7%

844

78

9.2%

859

46

5.4%

Sources: Authorized judgeship and judicial vacancy numbers for each year, as well as the table note citations to statutes creating new judgeships,

were supplied by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO). The percentage of authorized judgeships vacant each year, based on the

judgeship and vacancy numbers provided by the AO, were calculated by the Congressional Research Service.

CRS-11

a. Data for 1977 to 1992 are as of June 30 of each year. Data for 1993 through 2003 are as of Sept. 30 of each year.

b. U.S. District Courts include the Territorial Courts.

c. P.L. 95-486 (Oct. 20, 1978), 92 Stat. 1629, created 35 circuit court and 117 district court judgeships.

d. The U.S. District Court for the District of the Canal Zone was closed March 31, 1982, in accordance with P.L. 96-70 (Sept. 27, 1979), 93 Stat.

452.

e. P.L. 97-164 (April 2, 1982), 96 Stat. 25, created the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit with 12 judgeships.

f. 1984 Act - P.L. 98-353 (July 10, 1984), 98 Stat. 333, created 24 circuit court and 61 district court judgeships. One temporary judgeship created

by P.L. 95-486 was never converted to a permanent position.

g. P.L. 101-650 (Dec. 1, 1990), 104 Stat. 5089, created 11 circuit court and 74 district court judgeships.

h. Two temporary judgeships created by P.L. 101-650 were never converted to permanent positions.

i. One temporary judgeship created by P.L. 101-650 was never converted to a permanent position.

j. P.L. 106-113 (Nov. 29, 1999), 113 Stat.1535, created 9 district court judgeships.

k. P.L. 106-553 (Dec. 21, 2000), 114 Stat. 2762, created 10 district court judgeships on Dec. 21, 2000.

l. P.L. 107-273 (Nov. 2, 2002), 116 Stat. 1786, created 8 new permanent district judgeships and 7 new temporary district judgeships, effective July

15, 2003.

CRS-12

Table 2 (a). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations of

Five Most Recent Presidents (1977-December 9, 2003):

Number Submitted, Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed

President

(Congresses, years)

Jimmy Carter

(95th to 96th,

1977-1980)

Ronald Reagan

(97th to 100th,

1981-1988)

George H. W. Bush

(101st to 102nd,

1989-1992)

William J. Clinton

(103rd to 106th,

1993-2000)

George W. Bush

(107th to 108th,

2001-Dec. 9, 2003)

District Court

Nominations a

Circuit Court

Nominations

District and Circuit

Combined

N

228

61

289

C

206

56

262

%

90.4%

91.8%

90.7%

N

336

102

438

C

292

83

375

%

86.9%

81.4%

85.6%

N

199

54

253

C

150

42

192

%

75.4%

77.8%

75.9%

N

382

115 c

497

C

307

65

372

%

80.4%

56.5%

74.8%

N

201 d

93 e

294

C

138

30

168

%

68.7%

32.3%

57.1%

Note: The cells in this table account for the number of nominations submitted to the Senate for U.S. District

and Circuit Court judgeships during each of the five most recent presidential administrations. The cells

account for all instances in which an individual was nominated to the same judgeship during a particular

presidency — including not only the first nomination but also any “re-submitted” nominations made when an

individual was re-nominated to the same judgeship. By contrast, for an accounting only of individuals

nominated to U.S. District and Circuit Court judgeships (excluding the number of “resubmitted” nominations),

see the following Table 2 (b).

Legend: N=number submitted by the President to the Senate; C=number confirmed; %=percent confirmed.

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern

Mariana Islands.

b. Includes one district court nomination submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, at the start of the 97th

Congress, and withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan. 21, 1981.

c. Includes nine circuit court nominations submitted by President Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001, at the start

of the 107th Congress, and withdrawn by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2001.

d. Includes 20 district court nominations submitted by President George W. Bush between June 18, 2001 and

Aug. 2, 2001, which the Senate returned on Aug. 3, 2001, at the start of its August 2001 recess, and

which the President resubmitted as new nominations on Sept. 4, 2001.

e. Includes 20 circuit court nominations submitted by President Bush between May 9, 2001and Aug. 2, 2001,

which the Senate returned on Aug. 3, 2001, at the start of its August 2001 recess, and which the

President resubmitted as new nominations on Sept. 4, 2001. Excludes nine circuit nominations

submitted by President Clinton on Jan. 3, 2001 and Jan. 4, 2001 near the end of his presidential term —

all of which were withdrawn by President Bush on Mar. 19, 2001.

CRS-13

Table 2 (b). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominees of

Five Most Recent Presidents (1977-December 9, 2003):

Number Nominated, Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed

President

(Congresses, years)

Jimmy Carter

(95th to 96th,

1977-1980)

Ronald Reagan

(97th to 100th,

1981-1988)

George H. W. Bush

(101st to 102nd,

1989-1992)

William J. Clinton

(103rd to 106th,

1993-2000)

George W. Bush

(107th to 108th,

2001-Dec. 9, 2003)

District Court

Nominees a

Circuit Court

Nominees

District and Circuit

Combined

N

224 b

61

285

C

206

56

262

%

92.0%

91.8%

91.9%

N

309

94

403

C

292

83

375

%

94.5%

88.3%

93.1%

N

189

53

242

C

150

42

192

%

79.4%

79.2%

79.3%

N

352

91

443

C

307

65

372

%

87.2%

71.4%

84.0%

N

165

50

215

C

138

30

168

%

83.6%

60.0%

78.1%

Note: The cells in this table account only for the number of individuals who were nominees to U.S. District and

Circuit Court judgeships during each of the five most recent presidential administrations. The cells do not count

“re-submitted” nominations made when individuals were re-nominated to the same judgeship during a particular

presidency. By contrast, for an accounting of all nominations made to U.S. District and Circuit Court judgeships

(including “re-submitted” nominations), see the preceding Table 2 (a).

Legend: N=number submitted by the President to the Senate; C=number confirmed; %=percent confirmed.

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana

Islands.

b. Includes one district court nomination submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8 1981, at the start of the 97th

Congress, and withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan. 21, 1981.

CRS-14

Table 3. Total Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations of Five Most Recent Presidents

(1977-December 9, 2003), Broken Down by Final Actiona

District Court Nominations b

President

Circuit Court Nominations

Congresses

Confirmed

Withdrawn

Returned

Rejectedc

Total

Confirmed

Withdrawn

Returned

Rejectedc

Total

Jimmy Carter

95th - 96th

206

5d & e

17

0

228

56

1

4

0

61

Ronald Reagan

97th -100th

292

5

38 d

0

335

83

3

16d

0

102

George H. W. Bush

101st -102nd

150

1

48

0

199

42

0

12d

0

54

William J. Clinton

103rd -106th

307

8

66

1

382

65

12 f

38

0

115

George W. Bush

107th - 108th g

138

0

35

0

173 h

30

1

36 i

0

67 j

a. Final action covers one of four mutually exclusive outcomes: (1) confirmation by the Senate; (2) withdrawal of a nomination by the President; (3) Senate return of the nomination

to the President (upon a Senate adjournment or recess of more than 30 days), and (4) Senate rejection by a vote disapproving a nomination.

b. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

c. Counts only rejections voted by the full Senate. Six nominations which, over the 1977-2002 period, were defeated in committee (by Senate Judiciary Committee votes against

reporting the nominations to the Senate) are counted either in the “Withdrawn” or “Returned” columns, as indicated in table notes “d” and “g”.

d. Includes one nomination defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

e. Includes one nomination submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, at the start of the 97th Congress, and withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan. 21, 1981.

f. Includes nine circuit court nominations submitted by President Clinton on Jan. 3, 2001 and Jan. 4, 2001, at the start of the 107th Congress, and withdrawn by President George W.

Bush on March 19, 2001.

g. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

h. Does not include 26 district court nominations pending as of Dec. 9, 2003 which, as of that date, had yet to receive final action.

i. Includes two nominations defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

j. Does not include 17 circuit court nominations pending as of Dec. 9, 2003 which, as of that date, had yet to receive final action.

CRS-15

Table 4 (a). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations for Each Congress: Number Received,

Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed, 95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

District Court a

Congress

Years

President

Nominations

Received

Circuit Court

Nominations

Confirmed

No.

%

57

52

91.2%

170

154

71b

1983-84

Nominations

Received

District and Circuit combined

Nominations

Confirmed

No.

%

12

12

100.0%

90.6%

49

44

69

97.2%

20

%

69

64

92.8%

89.8%

219

198

90.4%

19

95.0%

91

88

96.7%

79

61

77.2%

22

14

63.6%

101

75

74.3%

1985-86

107

95

88.8%

34

33

97.1%

141

128

90.8%

100th

1987-88

80

67

83.8%

26

17

65.4%

106

84

79.2%

101st

1989-90

nd

52

48

92.3%

23

22

95.7%

75

70

93.3%

102

1991-92

147

101

68.7%

31

20

64.5%

178

121

68.0%

103rd

1993-94

119

108

90.8%

22

19

86.4%

141

127

90.1%

104th

1995-96

85

62

72.9%

20

11

55.0%

105

73

69.5%

105th

1997-98

95

80

84.2%

30

20

66.7%

125

100

80.0%

19992000

83

57

68.7%

34

15

44.1%

117

72

61.5%

118

83

70.3%

61c

17

27.9% d

179

100

55.9% e

83

55

66.3%

32

13

40.6%

115

68

59.1%

1977-78

96th

1979-80

97th

1981-82

th

th

98

99

106

th

Nominations

Confirmed

No.

th

95

Nominations

Received

107th

2001-02

108th, 1st

sess.

2003 f

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George H. W.

Bush

William J.

Clinton

George W. Bush

Note: The cells in this table account for all instances in which individuals were nominated to U.S. District and Circuit Court judgeships in the Congresses listed. The cells, therefore,

count not only the first instances in which individuals were nominated to District or Circuit judgeships during a Congress but also any “re-submitted” nominations made when they

CRS-16

were re-nominated to the same judgeship during the Congress. By contrast, for an accounting only of individuals nominated to U.S. District and Circuit judgeships (excluding the

number of “re-submitted” nominations), see the following Table 4(b).

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

b. Includes one district court nomination submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan. 21, 1981.

c. Includes nine circuit court nominations submitted by President William Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001, near the end of his presidential term — all of which were withdrawn by

President George W. Bush on Mar 19, 2001.

d. The confirmation percentage is 32.7% if the 9 circuit court nominations submitted by President Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001 (see preceding table note) are excluded from the

“Nominations Received” column, making the number in that column 52 instead of 61.

e. The confirmation percentage is 58.9% if the 9 circuit court nominations submitted by President Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001 (see preceding two table notes) are excluded from

the “Nominations Received” column, making the number in that column 170 instead of 179.

f. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-17

Table 4 (b). Nominees to U.S. District and U.S. Circuit Court Judgeships During Each Congress: Number Nominated,

Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed, 95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

Congress

Years

President

District Court a

Number of

Nominees

Circuit Court

Nominees

Confirmed

No.

%

54

52

96.3%

169

153

71 b

Number of

Nominees

District and Circuit Combined

Nominees

Confirmed

No.

%

12

12

100.0%

90.5%

49

44

69

97.2%

20

Number of

Nominees

Nominees

Confirmed

No.

%

66

64

97.0%

89.8%

218

197

90.4%

19

95.0%

91

88

96.7%

95th

1977-78

96th

1979-80

97th

1981-82

98th

1983-84

75

61

81.3%

19

14

73.7%

94

75

79.8%

99th

1985-86

100

95

95.0%

33

33

100.0%

133

128

96.2%

100th

1987-88

79

67

84.8%

26

17

65.4%

105

84

80.0%

101st

1989-90

50

48

96.0%

23

22

95.7%

73

70

95.9%

102nd

1991-92

146

102

69.9%

31

20

64.5%

177

122

68.9%

103rd

1993-94

119

108

90.8%

22

19

86.4%

141

127

90.1%

104th

1995-96

85

62

72.9%

20

11

55.0%

105

73

69.5%

105th

1997-98

95

80

84.2%

30

20

66.7%

125

100

80.0%

106th

1999-2000

83

57

68.7%

34

15

44.1%

117

72

61.5%

107th

2001-02

98 c

83

84.7%

40 d

17

42.5% e

138

100

72.5% f

108th, 1st sess.

2003 g

83

55

66.3%

32

13

40.6%

115

68

59.1%

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George H. W. Bush

William J. Clinton

George W. Bush

CRS-18

Note: The cells in this table account only for the number of individuals who were nominees to U.S. District and Circuit Court judgeships in any given Congress. The cells do not

count “resubmitted” nominations made when individuals were re-nominated to the same judgeship during the Congress. By contrast, for an accounting of all nominations made to

U.S. District and Circuit judgeships (including “resubmitted” nominations), see the preceding Table 4(a).

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

b. Includes 1 district court nominee nominated by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term. The nomination was withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan.

21, 1981.

c. Twenty of the 98 district court nominees were nominated twice during the 107th Congress (thereby increasing the number of district court nominations received during the Congress

to 118). The 20 nominees saw the Senate return their first nominations at the start of the Senate’s August 2001 recess, but were all re-nominated by President George W. Bush

on Sept. 4, 2001.

d. This number includes 8 circuit court nominees nominated by President William J. Clinton on Jan. 3, 2001 and Jan. 4, 2001, near the end of his presidential term. All 8 of these

nominations (not including the nomination of Roger L. Gregory) were withdrawn by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2001. Roger L. Gregory, was nominated by

President Clinton as well and renominated by President Bush, but is counted only once in this column — as are 20 other circuit nominees nominated by President Bush twice

in the 107th Congress.

e. The percentage of “Nominees Confirmed” is 53.1% if only President Bush’s 32 circuit nominees, including his resubmitted nomination of Roger L. Gregory, are included in the

“Number of Nominees” column and the 8 circuit nominees (other than Roger L. Gregory) who were nominated by President Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001 (see preceding table

note) are excluded.

f. The percentage of “Nominees Confirmed” is 76.9% if only President Bush’s 130 district court nominees are included in the “Number of Nominees” column and 8 nominees

nominated by President Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001 (see preceding table note) are excluded.

g. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-19

Table 5 (a). U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations for Each Session of Congress: Number Received,

Number Carried Over from First Session to Second Session, Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed,

95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

District Court Nominations a

Congress

(Session)

95th

96th

97th

98th

99th

100th

101st

Year

Pending Nominations

Circuit Court Nominations

Confirmed

Pending Nominations

District and Circuit Combined

Confirmed

Pending Nominations

Confirmed

Rec’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Rec’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Rec’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

1st

1977

24

—

24

21

87.5%

10

—

10

10

100.0%

34

—

34

31

91.2%

2nd

1978

33

3

36

31

86.1%

2

0

2

2

100.0%

35

3

38

33

86.8%

1st

1979

119

—

119

102

85.7%

39

—

39

34

87.2%

158

—

158

136

86.1%

2nd

1980

51

15

66

52

78.8%

10

4

14

10

71.4%

61

19

80

62

77.5%

1st

1981

36c

—

36

33

91.7%

9

—

9

8

88.9%

45

—

45

41

91.1%

2nd

1982

35

2

37

36

97.3%

11

1

12

11

91.7%

46

3

49

47

95.9%

1st

1983

33

—

33

28

84.8%

9

—

9

4

44.4%

42

—

42

32

76.2%

2nd

1984

46

4

50

33

66.0%

14

5

18

10

55.6%

60

9

68

43

63.2%

1st

1985

70

—

70

62

88.6%

23

—

23

22

95.7%

93

—

93

84

90.3%

2nd

1986

37

8

45

33

73.3%

11

2

13

11

84.6%

48

10

58

44

75.9%

1st

1987

52

—

52

33

63.5%

19

—

19

10

52.6%

71

—

71

43

60.6%

2nd

1988

28

19

47

34

72.3%

7

8

15

7

46.7%

35

27

62

41

66.1%

1st

1989

16

—

16

10

62.5%

8

—

8

5

62.5%

24

—

24

15

62.5%

2nd

1990

36

6

42

38

90.5%

15

3

18

17

94.4%

51

9

60

55

91.7%

CRS-20

District Court Nominations a

Congress

(Session)

102nd

103rd

104th

105th

106th

107th

108th

Year

Pending Nominations

Circuit Court Nominations

Confirmed

Pending Nominations

District and Circuit Combined

Confirmed

Pending Nominations

Confirmed

Rec’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Rec’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Rec’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

1st

1991

86

—

86

47

54.7%

17

—

17

9

52.9%

103

—

103

56

54.4%

2nd

1992

61

37

98

54

55.1%

14

7

21

11

52.4%

75

44

119

65

54.6%

1st

1993

42

—

42

24

57.1%

5

—

5

3

60.0%

47

—

47

27

57.4%

2nd

1994

77

18

95

84

88.4%

17

2

19

16

84.2%

94

20

114

100

87.7%

1st

1995

68

—

68

44

64.7%

16

—

16

9

56.3%

84

—

84

53

63.1%

2nd

1996

17

21

38

18

47.4%

4

5

9

2

22.2%

21

26

47

20

42.6%

1st

1997

58

—

58

29

50.0%

21

—

21

7

33.3%

79

—

79

36

45.6%

2nd

1998

37

29

66

51

77.3%

9

13

22

13

59.1%

46

42

88

64

72.7%

1st

1999

45

—

45

27

60.0%

25

—

25

7

28.0%

70

—

70

34

48.6%

2nd

2000

37

28

56

31

55.4%

9

18

27

8

29.6%

46

46

83

39

47.0%

1st

2001

56

—

56

22

39.3%

58 d

—

58

6

10.3%

114

—

114

28

24.6%

2nd

2002

62

14

76

61

80.3%

3

23

26

11

42.3%

65

37

102

72

70.6%

1st

2003 e

83

—

83

55

66.3%

32

—

32

13

40.6%

115

—

115

68

59.1%

Note: The cells in this table account for all instances in which individuals were nominated to U.S. District and Circuit Court judgeships in any given session of Congress. The cells,

therefore, count not only the first instances in which individuals were nominated to District or Circuit judgeships during the same session of Congress but also any “re-submitted”

nominations made when they were re-nominated to the same judgeship during that session. By contrast, for an accounting only of individuals nominated to U.S. District and Circuit

judgeships (excluding the number of “re-submitted” nominations), see the following Table 5(b).

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

CRS-21

b. Counts nominations that were pending at the end of the first session of each Congress, and which the Senate, prior to adjourning for that session, agreed by unanimous consent

would remain in “status quo” and thus be carried over into the second session of the Congress as pending nominations.

c. Includes one district court nomination submitted by President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President Ronald Reagan on

Jan. 21, 1981.

d. Includes nine circuit court nominations submitted by President William J. Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001, near the end of his presidential term — all of which were withdrawn by

President George W. Bush on March 19, 2001.

e. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-22

Table 5 (b). Nominees to U.S. District and Circuit Court Judgeships During Each Session of Congress:

Number Nominated, Number Whose Nominations Were Carried Over from First Session to Second Session,

Number Confirmed, and Percent Confirmed, 95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

District Court Nominees a

Congress

(Session)

95th

96th

97th

98th

99th

100th

101st

Year

Pending Nominees

Circuit Court Nominees

Confirmed

Pending Nominees

District and Circuit Combined

Confirmed

Pending Nominees

Confirmed

Nom’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Nom’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Nom’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

1st

1977

24

—

24

21

87.5%

10

—

10

10

100.0%

34

—

34

31

91.2%

2nd

1978

30

3

33

31

93.9%

2

0

2

2

100.0%

32

3

35

33

94.3%

1st

1979

118

—

118

102

86.4%

39

—

39

34

87.2%

157

—

157

136

86.6%

2nd

1980

51

15

66

52

78.8%

10

4

14

10

71.4%

61

19

80

62

77.5%

1st

1981

36 c

—

36

33

91.7%

9

—

9

8

88.9%

45

—

45

41

91.1%

2nd

1982

35

2

37

36

97.3%

11

1

12

11

91.7%

46

3

49

47

95.9%

1st

1983

33

—

33

28

84.8%

9

—

9

4

44.4%

42

—

42

32

76.2%

2nd

1984

42

4

46

33

71.7%

10

5

15

10

66.7%

52

9

61

43

70.5%

1st

1985

70

—

70

62

88.6%

23

—

23

22

95.7%

93

—

93

84

90.3%

2nd

1986

30

8

38

33

86.8%

10

2

12

11

91.7%

40

10

50

44

88.0%

1st

1987

52

—

52

33

63.5%

19

—

19

10

52.6%

71

—

71

43

60.6%

2nd

1988

27

19

46

34

73.9%

7

8

15

7

46.7%

34

27

61

41

67.2%

1st

1989

16

—

16

10

62.5%

8

—

8

5

62.5%

24

—

24

15

62.5%

2nd

1990

34

6

40

38

95.0%

15

3

18

17

94.4%

49

9

58

55

94.8%

CRS-23

District Court Nominees a

Congress

(Session)

102nd

103rd

104th

105th

106th

107th

108th

Year

Pending Nominees

Circuit Court Nominees

Confirmed

Pending Nominees

District and Circuit Combined

Confirmed

Pending Nominees

Confirmed

Nom’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Nom’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

Nom’d

Carryover b

Total

No.

%

1st

1991

86

—

86

47

54.7%

17

—

17

9

52.9%

103

—

103

56

54.4%

2nd

1992

60

37

97

54

55.7%

14

7

21

11

52.4%

74

44

118

65

55.1%

1st

1993

42

—

42

24

57.1%

5

—

5

3

60.0%

47

—

47

27

57.4%

2nd

1994

77

18

95

84

88.4%

17

2

19

16

84.2%

94

20

114

100

87.7%

1st

1995

68

—

68

44

64.7%

16

—

16

9

56.3%

84

—

84

53

63.1%

2nd

1996

17

21

38

18

47.4%

4

5

9

2

22.2%

21

26

47

20

42.6%

1st

1997

58

—

58

29

50.0%

21

—

21

7

33.3%

79

—

79

36

45.6%

2nd

1998

37

29

66

51

77.3%

9

13

22

13

59.1%

46

42

88

64

72.7%

1st

1999

45

—

45

27

60.0%

25

—

25

7

28.0%

70

—

70

34

48.6%

2nd

2000

38

28

56

31

55.4%

9

18

27

8

29.6%

47

46

83

39

47.0%

1st

2001

36

—

36

22

61.1%

37 d

—

37

6

16.2%

73

—

73

28

38.4%

2nd

2002

62

14

76

61

80.3%

3

23

26

11

42.3%

65

37

102

72

70.6%

1st

2003 e

83

—

83

55

66.3%

32

—

32

13

40.6%

115

—

115

68

59.1%

Note: The cells in this table account only for the number of individuals who were nominees to U.S. District and Circuit Court judgeships in any given session of Congress. The cells

do not count “resubmitted” nominations made when individuals were re-nominated to the same judgeship during the same session. By contrast, for an accounting of all nominations

made to U.S. District and Circuit judgeships (including “resubmitted” nominations), see the preceding Table 5(a).

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

CRS-24

b. Counts nominees whose nominations were pending at the end of the first session of each Congress and which the Senate, prior to adjourning for that session, agreed by unanimous

consent would remain in “status quo” and thus be carried over into the second session of the Congress as pending nominations.

c. Includes 1 district court nomination submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President Ronald Reagan on Jan. 21, 1981.

d. Includes 8 circuit court nominations submitted by President Clinton in Jan. 3, 2001 and Jan. 4, 2001, near the end of his presidential term — all of which were withdrawn by

President George W. Bush on March 19, 2001.

e. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-25

Table 6. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations, 95th Congress to 108th Congress

(1977-December 9, 2003), Broken Down by Final Action a

District Court Nominations b

Congress

Circuit Court Nominations

President

Confirmed

Withdrawn

Returned

Rejectedc

Total

Confirmed

Withdrawn

Returned

Rejectedc

Total

52

1

4

0

57

12

0

0

0

12

154

3d

13

0

170

44

1

4

0

49

69

1e

1

0

71

19

0

1

0

20

98th (1983-84)

61

1

17

0

79

14

1

7

0

22

99th (1985-86)

95

1

11d

0

107

33

0

1

0

34

100th (1987-88)

67

3

10

0

80

17

2d

7

0

26

48

0

3

0

51

22

0

1

0

23

101

1

45

0

147

20

0

11d

0

31

108

0

11

0

119

19

0

3

0

22

62

3

20

0

85

11

1

8

0

20

105th (1997-98)

80

4

11

0

95

20

1

9

0

30

106th (19992000)

57

1

24

1

83

15

1

18

0

34

83

0

35

0

118

17

9 f

35 g

0

61

55

0

0

0

55 i

13

1

1

0

15 j

95th (1977-78)

Jimmy Carter

96th (1979-80)

97th (1981-82)

101st (1989-90)

102nd (1991-92)

103rd (1993-94)

104th (1995-96)

107th (2001-02)

108th (2003) h

Ronald Reagan

George H. W.

Bush

William J.

Clinton

George W.

Bush

CRS-26

a. Final action covers one of four mutually exclusive outcomes: (1) confirmation by the Senate; (2) withdrawal of a nomination by the President; (3) Senate return of the

nomination to President (upon a Senate adjournment or recess of more than 30 days); and (4) Senate rejection by a vote disapproving a nomination.

b. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

c. Counts only rejections voted by the full Senate. Six nominations which, over the 1977-2002 period, were defeated in committee (by Senate Judiciary Committee votes against

reporting the nominations to the Senate) are counted either in the “Withdrawn” or “Returned” columns, as indicated in the table notes “d” and “g”.

d. Includes one nomination defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

e. The nomination was submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan. 21, 1981.

f. The nine nominations were submitted by President Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President George W. Bush on Mar.

19, 2001.

g. Includes two nominations defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

h. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

i. Does not include 28 district court nominations pending as of Dec. 9, 2003 (on which final action was yet to be taken).

j. Does not include 18 circuit court nominations pending as of Dec. 9, 2003 (on which final action was yet to be taken),

CRS-27

Table 7. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Nominations: Number Pending at End of Each Congress,a

and Their Percentage of All Nominations Received During That Congress,

95th Congress to 107th Congress (1977-2002)

District Court Nominationsb

Congress

Years

95th

1977-78

96th

1979-80

th

1981-82

98th

th

President

Circuit Court Nominations

Pending w/o

hearingc

Other

pendingd

Total

pending

% of all

received

Pending w/o

hearingc

Other

pendingd

Total

pending

% of all

received

0

1

1

1.8%

0

0

0

N/A

7

6

13

7.7%

0

4

4

8.2%

1

0

1

1.4%

1

0

1

5.0%

1983-84

5

8

13

16.5%

1

2

3

13.6%

1985-86

2

1

3

2.8%

0

0

0

N/A

100th

1987-88

4

6

10

12.7%

5

2

7

26.9%

st

1989-90

3

0

3

5.9%

1

0

1

4.3%

nd

1991-92

43

0

43

29.3%

9

1

10

32.3%

103rd

1993-94

9

2

11

9.2%

2

1

3

13.6%

th

1995-96

12

8

20

23.5%

3

5

8

40.0%

105th

1997-98

6

5

11

11.6%

6

3

9

30.0%

1999-2000

23

1

24

28.9%

15

2

17

50.0%

15

0

15

12.7%

12

3

15

24.6%

130

38

168

28.9%

55

23

78

50.0%

97

99

101

102

104

106

th

107th

2001-02

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George H. W. Bush

William J. Clinton

George W. Bush

th

95 - 107

th

Totals

a. Includes, for 97th to the 107th Congress, all nominations pending and not finally acted upon at the time of the final adjournment of each Congress.

b. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

c. Nominations pending at end of Congress which had not received a committee hearing.

d. Nominations pending at end of Congress which had received a committee hearing.

CRS-28

Table 8. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Nominations: Average Number of Days Elapsing from

Nomination Date to Final Action,a 95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

District Court nominations b

Congress

(Years)

Circuit Court nominations

Confirmed c

Unconfirmed d

Combined e

Confirmed c

Unconfirmed d

Combined e

95th (1977-78)

40

35

40

33

N/A

33

96th (1979-80)

79

168

89

79

157

87

97th (1981-82)

33

10

32

34

8

33

98th (1983-84)

31

35

32

51

34

49

99th (1985-86)

42

49

43

49

11

48

100th (1987-88)

122

217

136

119

273

172

101st (1989-90)

77

69

76

79

185

83

102nd (1991-92)

114

172

130

108

296

174

103rd (1993-94)

76

104

77

103

94

102

104th (1995-96)

112

255

149

124

243

194

105th (1997-98)

165

303

185

212

345

262

106th (1999-2000)

133

328

192

227

364

304

107th (2001-2002)

127

39

99

210

160

169

108th (2003) f

106

—

—

120

—

—

CRS-29

a. Final action covers one of four mutually exclusive outcomes: (1) confirmation by the Senate; (2) withdrawal of a nomination by the President; (3) Senate

return of the nomination to President (upon a Senate adjournment or recess of more than 30 days); and (4) Senate rejection by a vote disapproving a

nomination.

b. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

c. Average number of days, rounded to nearest whole number, elapsing from nomination date to confirmation date.

d. Average number of days, rounded to nearest whole number, elapsing from nomination date to final action date of unconfirmed nominations (i.e., date on

which they were returned to the President, withdrawn by the President, or rejected by the Senate).

e. Average number of days, rounded to nearest whole number, elapsing from nomination date to final action date of both confirmed and unconfirmed

nominations.

f. Current to Dec. 9, 2003. Averages are not provided for unconfirmed nominations in the 108th Congress, because as of Dec. 9, 2003 all of the unconfirmed

nominations, except for one which was withdrawn by the President, were pending nominations (and thus had yet to receive final action).

CRS-30

Table 9. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee,

Receiving Committee Hearings, Committee Vote, and Senate Vote, by Congress,

95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

District Court Nominationsa

Congress

Circuit Court Nominations

President

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senate c

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senate c

57

52

53

52

12

12

12

12

170

164

155

154

49

48

44

44

71d

69

69

69

20

19

19

19

98th (1983-84)

79

69

67

61

22

18

15

14

99th (1985-86)

107

93

96

95

34

31

33

33

100th (1987-88)

80

75

68

67

26

20

20

17

52

48

48

48

23

22

22

22

147

102

102

101

31

22

21

20

119

110

108

108

22

20

19

19

104th (1995-96)

85

70

65

62

20

16

15

11

105th (1997-98)

95

85

83

80

30

24

22

20

106th (1999-2000)

83

57

58

58

34

15

15

15

118

83

83

83

61 e

24

19

17

83

65

58

55

32

20

19

13

95th (1977-78)

Jimmy Carter

96th (1979-80)

97th (1981-82)

101st (1989-90)

Ronald Reagan

George H. W. Bush

102nd (1991-92)

103rd (1993-94)

107th (2001-02)

108th (2003) f

William J. Clinton

George W. Bush

CRS-31

Note: In some of the Congresses above, one or more nominees received a hearing on their nominations in one Congress, only to be re-nominated in the next Congress and have

a committee vote and Senate vote on their re-submitted nomination. Usually, in these cases, the Judiciary Committee did not hold a hearing on the re-submitted nomination if

a hearing had already been held on the nominee in the preceding Congress. This carryover of actions on particular nominees (with a hearing held in one Congress, and votes

by the Judiciary Committee and/or the Senate in the next Congress) explains why, in some of the Congresses, the number of nominations receiving a hearing is smaller than the

number of nominations voted on by committee and by the Senate.

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

b. A nomination receiving more than one hearing is counted just once in its particular “received hearing” column. Similarly, a nomination receiving more than one committee

vote, either on the same day or on different days, is counted just once in its “voted on by committee” column.

c. Accounts only for Senate votes on whether to confirm; does not account for Senate procedural votes on nominations, such as votes on motions to close debate.

d. Includes one district court nomination submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan. 21, 1981.

e. . Includes nine circuit court nominations submitted by President Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001, at the end of his presidential term — all of which were withdrawn by President

George W. Bush on March 19, 2001.

f. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-32

Table 10. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee,

Receiving Committee Hearings, Committee Vote, and Senate Vote, by Year,

95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

District Court Nominationsa

Congress

(President)

95th (Carter)

96th (Carter)

97th (Reagan)

98th (Reagan)

Circuit Court Nominations

Year

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senatec

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senatec

1977

24

20

21

21

10

10

10

10

1978

33

32

32

31

2

2

2

2

Total

57

52

53

52

12

12

12

12

1979

119

103

102

102

39

36

34

34

1980

51

61

53

52

10

12

10

10

Total

170

164

155

154

49

48

44

44

1981

36 d

33

33

33

9

8

8

8

1982

35

36

36

36

11

11

11

11

Total

71

69

69

69

20

19

19

19

1983

33

29

29

28

8

6

4

4

1984

46

40

38

33

14

12

11

10

Total

79

69

67

61

22

18

15

14

CRS-33

District Court Nominationsa

Congress

(President)

99th (Reagan)

100th (Reagan)

101st (Bush,

George H. W.)

102nd (Bush,

George H. W.)

103rd (Clinton)

Circuit Court Nominations

Year

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senatec

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senatec

1985

70

58

62

62

23

20

22

22

1986

37

35

34

33

11

11

11

11

Total

107

93

96

95

34

31

33

33

1987

52

35

33

33

19

13

11

10

1988

28

40

35

34

7

7

9

7

Total

80

75

68

67

26

20

20

17

1989

16

12

12

10

8

5

5

5

1990

36

36

36

38

15

17

17

17

Total

52

48

48

48

23

22

22

22

1991

86

47

47

47

17

10

10

9

1992

61

55

55

54

14

12

11

11

Total

147

102

102

101

31

22

21

20

1993

42

26

25

24

5

3

3

3

1994

77

84

83

84

17

17

16

16

Total

119

110

108

108

22

20

19

19

CRS-34

District Court Nominationsa

Congress

(President)

104th (Clinton)

105th (Clinton)

106th (Clinton)

107th (Bush,

George W.)

108th (Bush,

George W.)

Circuit Court Nominations

Year

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senatec

Referred to

Committee

Received

Hearingb

Voted on by

Committeeb

Voted on

by Senatec

1995

68

45

45

44

16

12

12

9

1996

17

25

20

18

4

4

3

2

Total

85

70

65

62

20

16

15

11

1997

58

36

36

29

21

11

8

7

1998

37

49

47

51

9

13

14

13

Total

95

85

83

80

30

24

22

20

1999

45

28

29

27

25

10

12

7

2000

38

29

29

31

9

5

3

8

Total

83

57

58

58

34

15

15

15

2001

56

27

26

22

58 e

7

6

6

2002

62

56

57

61

3

14

14

11

Total

118

83

83

83

61

21

20

17

2003 f

83

65

58

55

32

20

19

13

Total

83

65

58

55

32

20

19

13

Note: In most of the Congresses above, nominations pending at the end of the first session remained in “status quo” and, by unanimous consent of the Senate, were carried

over into the second session as pending nominations. The carryover of nominations into the second session sometimes resulted during the second session in more

nominations receiving a hearing, a committee vote, or a Senate vote than those being referred to committee. As well, in a few instances, the carryover of nominations from

CRS-35

a first session resulted, during a second session, in more nominations receiving a Senate vote than those receiving a committee vote or in more nominations receiving

a committee vote than those receiving a committee hearing.

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

b. A nomination receiving more than one hearing is counted just once in its particular “received hearing” column. Similarly, a nomination receiving more than one

committee vote, either on the same day or on different days, is counted just once in its “voted on by committee” column.

c. Accounts only for Senate votes on whether to confirm; does not account for Senate procedural votes on nominations, such as votes on motions to close debate.

d. Includes one district court nomination submitted by President Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President Reagan on Jan.

21, 1981.

e. Includes nine circuit court nominations submitted by President William Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001, at the end of his presidential term — all of which were withdrawn

by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2001.

f. Current to Dec. 9,2003.

CRS-36

Table 11. U.S. District Court and Circuit Court Nominations: Average

Number of Days Elapsing from Nomination Date to Hearing and Committee

Vote, 95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

District Court Nominations a

Circuit Court Nominations

Congress

(Years)

Hearing b

Committee Vote b

Hearing b

Committee Vote b

95th (1977-78)

23

37

21

29

96th (1979-80)

57

76

46

74

97th (1981-82)

21

29

23

30

98th (1983-84)

16

26

19

36

99th (1985-86)

24

34

22

35

100th (1987-88)

90

112

92

115

101st (1989-90)

56

71

61

76

102nd (1991-92)

93

110

82

94

103rd (1993-94)

59

72

78

95

104th (1995-96)

80

79

88

105

105th (1997-98)

116

128

171

182

106th (1999-2000)

100

107

131

151

107th (2001-02)

84

104

161

183

108th, 1st sess. (2003) c

73

96

81

92

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana

Islands.

b. Average number of days, rounded to nearest whole number, elapsing from nomination date to the procedural action

in this column (hearing, committee action or final action). Nominations not receiving a hearing, a committee vote

or (in the case of nominations in the 108th Congress that were pending as of Aug. 1, 2003) final action, were

excluded from the calculations of these respective time lapse averages.

c. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-37

Table 12. U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations: Annual Percent Confirmed When One Party Controls

Both Presidency and Senate (‘Unified Government’), versus When One Party Controls Presidency and

Other Controls Senate (‘Divided Government’), 95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

President

(Party)

Jimmy

Carter (D)

Congress

(Session)

95th

96th

Year

Government

97th

98th

99th

District and Circuit Combined

Pending b

Pending b

Pending b

Confirmed

No.

%

24

21

87.5%

Confirmed

No.

%

10

10

100.0%

Confirmed

No.

%

34

31

91.2%

1977

2nd

1978

36

31

86.1%

2

2

100.0%

38

33

86.8%

1st

1979

119

102

85.7%

39

34

87.0%

158

136

87.0%

2nd

1980

66

52

78.8%

14

10

71.4%

80

62

77.5%

244

206

84.4%

65

56

86.2%

310

262

84.5%

36 c

33

91.7%

9

8

88.9%

45

41

91.1%

Unified

1st

1981

2nd

1982

37

36

97.3%

12

11

91.7%

49

47

95.9%

1st

1983

33

28

84.8%

9

4

44.4%

42

32

76.2%

2nd

1984

50

33

66.0%

18

10

55.6%

68

43

63.2%

1st

1985

70

62

88.6%

23

22

95.7%

93

84

90.3%

2nd

1986

45

33

73.3%

13

11

84.6%

58

44

75.9%

271

225

83.0%

84

66

79.0%

355

291

82.0%

52

33

63.5%

19

10

52.6%

71

43

60.6%

47

34

72.3%

15

7

46.7%

62

41

66.1%

99

67

67.7%

34

17

50.0%

133

84

63.2%

Unified

Totals

100th

Circuit Court Nominations

1st

Totals

Ronald

Reagan

(R)

District Court Nominations a

1st

1987

2nd

1988

Divided

Totals

CRS-38

President

(Party)

George H.

W. Bush

(R)

Congress

(Session)

101st

102nd

Year

Government

Divided

103rd

105th

106th

District and Circuit Combined

Pending b

Pending b

Pending b

Confirmed

No.

%

16

10

62.5%

Confirmed

No.

%

8

5

62.5%

Confirmed

No.

%

24

15

62.5%

1989

2nd

1990

42

38

90.5%

18

17

94.4%

60

55

91.7%

1st

1991

86

47

54.7%

17

9

52.9%

103

56

54.4%

2nd

1992

98

54

55.1%

21

11

52.4%

119

65

54.6%

242

149

61.6%

64

42

65.6%

306

191

62.4%

42

24

57.1%

5

3

60.0%

47

27

57.4%

95

84

88.4%

19

16

84.2%

114

100

87.7%

137

108

78.8%

24

19

79.2%

161

127

78.9%

68

44

64.7%

16

9

56.3%

84

53

63.1%

1st

1993

2nd

1994

Unified

Totals

104th

Circuit Court Nominations

1st

Totals

William J.

Clinton

(D)

District Court Nominations a

1st

1995

2nd

1996

38

18

47.4%

9

2

22.2%

47

20

42.6%

1st

1997

58

29

50.0%

21

7

33.3%

79

36

45.6%

2nd

1998

66

51

77.3%

22

13

59.1%

88

64

72.7%

1st

1999

45

27

60.0%

25

7

28.0%

70

34

48.6%

2nd

2000

56

31

55.4%

27

8

29.6%

83

39

47.0%

331

200

60.4%

120

46

38.3%

451

246

54.5%

Divided

Totals

CRS-39

President

(Party)

George W.

Bush (R)

Congress

(Session)

107th

Year

1st

2001

Government

Unified

Totals

1st

2001

2nd

2002

Divided e

Totals

108th

1st

2003

Unified

Totals

District Court Nominations a

Circuit Court Nominations

District and Circuit Combined

Pending b

Pending b

Pending b

Confirmed

No.

%

2

0

0.0%

2

0

56

Confirmed

No.

%

16 d

0

0.0%

0.0%

16

0

22

39.3%

58 f

76

61

80.3%

136

83

83

83

Confirmed

No.

%

18

0

0.0%

0.0%

18

0

0.0%

6

10.3%

114

28

24.6%

26

11

42.3%

102

72

70.6%

61.0%

116

17

14.7%

252

100

39.7%

55

66.3%

32

13

40.6%

115

68

59.1%

55

66.3%

32

13

40.6%

115

68

59.1%

a. Includes nominations to the Territorial district courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

b. Numbers for first session of a Congress account for all nominations received during that session. Numbers for second session of a Congress account for all nominations received

during that session as well as nominations that were pending at the end of the first session and were carried over into the second session. For number of nominations in second

session of each Congress broken down between those received in that session and those carried over, see Table 5 (a) above.

c. Includes one district court nomination submitted by President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 8, 1981, near the end of his presidential term, and withdrawn by President Ronald Reagan on

Jan. 21, 1981.

d. Includes 16 circuit court nominations submitted by President Bush on May 9, 21, 22, and 25, 2001 (before the switch from Republican to Democratic Party control of the Senate

on June 5, 2001), which the Senate returned at the start of the August 2001 recess and which the President resubmitted as new nominations on Sept. 4, 2001. Does not include

nine circuit court0 nominations submitted by President William J. Clinton on Jan. 3 and 4, 2001 near the end of his presidential term — all of which were withdrawn by President

George W. Bush on March 19, 2001.

e. The switch in party affiliation of Senator James Jeffords of Vermont on June 5, 2001, from Republican to Independent, caused Senate party control in the 107th Congress to switch

from Republican to Democratic, in turn causing the change from “unified government” to “divided government,” as indicated in this table.

f. Includes 6 circuit court nominations submitted by President Bush on June 21 and 22, July 16, and Aug 2, 2001 (all after the party switch in the Senate) — which the Senate returned

at the start of the August 2001 recess and which the President resubmitted as new nominations on Sept. 4, 2001.

CRS-40

Table 13. Votes by Senate Judiciary Committee on U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations Other Than

Those Agreeing to Report Favorably, 95th Congress to the 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)

Congress

Nominee

Court

Motion/Vote

Final Outcome

95th

Robert F. Collins

U.S. District Court,

Eastern Louisiana

Report favorably, 5-5, 04/14/78 (subsequent motion

to report favorably, on 05/16/78, approved, 13-1)

Confirmed by Senate, voice vote,

05/17/78

96th

Charles B. Winberry, Jr.

U.S. District Court,

North Carolina

Report favorably, 6-8, 03/04/80

Nomination withdrawn, 08/06/80

99th

Daniel A. Manion

U.S. Court of Appeals,

Seventh Circuit

Report favorably, 9-9; report without

recommendation, 11-6, 05/08/86

Confirmed by Senate, 48-46,

06/26/86

99th

Jefferson B. Sessions

U.S. District Court,

Southern Alabama

Report favorably, 8-10; report without

recommendation, 9-9, 06/05/86

Nomination returned, 12/20/85

100th

Susan W. Liebeler

U.S. Court of Appeals,

Federal Circuit

Report favorably, 6-7; report without

recommendation, 8-5, 02/23/88

Nomination returned, 10/22/88

100th

Bernard H. Siegan

U.S. Court of Appeals,

Ninth Circuit

Report favorably, 6-8; report without

recommendation, 7-7, 07/14/88

Nomination withdrawn, 09/16/88

102nd

Kenneth L. Ryskamp

U.S. Court of Appeals,

Eleventh Circuit

Report favorably, 6-8; report without

recommendation, 7-7, 04/11/91

Nomination returned, 08/02/91

107th

Charles W. Pickering, Sr.

U.S. Court of Appeals,

Fifth Circuit

Report favorably 9-10; report without

recommendation, 9-10; and report unfavorably, 9-10,

03/14/02

Nomination returned, 11/20/02

107th

Priscilla Richman Owen

U.S. Court of Appeals,

Fifth Circuit

Report favorably, 9-10; report without

recommendation, 9-10; and report unfavorably, 9-10,

09/05/02

Nomination returned, 11/20/02

108th

J. Leon Holmes

U.S. District Court,

Eastern Arkansas

Report without recommendation, 10-9, 05/01/03

Nomination pending a

CRS-41

Note: A vote by the Judiciary Committee on a nomination is treated as other than favorable if: (1) a majority of the committee voted against a motion to report the nomination favorably;

(2) a motion to report favorably failed on a tie vote; (3) the vote was on a motion to report the nomination without recommendation; or (4) the vote was on a motion to report the

nomination unfavorably (i.e., with a recommendation that the Senate not confirm the nomination).

a. As of Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-42

Table 14. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations Resubmitted in a Succeeding Congress

After Nominations of Same Persons in a Previous Congress Failed to Be Confirmed,

95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)a

President

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George H. W. Bush

William J. Clinton

George W. Bush

Congress

Number of Resubmitted Nominations Received and Confirmed by Senate

First

nomination

Resubmitted

nomination

95th

District Court

Circuit Court

Received

Confirmed

Received

Confirmed

96th

—

—

—

—

96th

97th

3

2

—

—

97th

98th

1

1

1

0

98th

99th

12

12

3

3

99th

100th

2

2

—

—

100th

101st

6

4

—

—

101st

102nd

2

1

1

0

102nd

103rd

3

3

—

—

103rd

104th

6

5

3

3

104th

105th

16

12

7

5

105th

106th

7

3

5

3

106th

107th

—

—

9

1

107th

108th

15

11

14

5

a. At the final adjournment of a Congress, pending nominations not having received Senate confirmation are returned to the President. It is not uncommon, however, for a President,

in the case of such returned nominations, to renominate the nominees (or “resubmit” the nomination) during the subsequent Congress. This table accounts for all such

resubmissions of district and circuit court nominations during the period from 1977 to Dec. 9, 2003.

CRS-43

Table 15. Number of U.S. District and Circuit Court Nominations in a Congress That Were Resubmitted

Within the Same Congress, 95th Congress to 108th Congress (1977-December 9, 2003)a

Congress

President

Resubmitted Nominations

District Court

Circuit Court

Nominations

Confirmed

Nominations

Confirmed

3

3

—

—

1

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

98th

5

4

3

2

99th

8

7

1

1

100th

—

—

—

—

George H. W.

Bush

—

—

—

—

1

1

—

—

William J.

Clinton

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

105th

—

—

—

—

106th

—

—

—

—

20

20

21b

12 c

—

—

—

—

95th

Jimmy Carter

96th

97th

101st

102nd

103rd

104th

107th

108th d

Ronald Reagan

George W.

Bush

a. This table accounts for the number of instances in which Presidents from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush renominated individuals to particular judgeships during

the same Congress. These instances typically arose when, prior to the final adjournment of a Congress, the Senate returned a nomination to the President upon

a Senate recess or adjournment of more than 30 days, thus affording the President an opportunity to “resubmit” the nomination in the same Congress.

b. Includes renomination by President George W. Bush on May 9, 2001 of Roger L. Gregory to the Fourth Circuit. Gregory initially had been nominated by President

William J. Clinton on Jan 3, 2001, at the start of the 107th Congress but near the end of the Clinton presidency. Although the nomination was withdrawn by

President Bush on March 19, 2001, he subsequently resubmitted the nomination, which the Senate confirmed on July 19, 2001.

c. Includes confirmation by the Senate of Roger L. Gregory to the Fourth Circuit on July 19, 2001. See preceding note.

d. Current to Dec. 9, 2003.