# Judicial Nomination Statistics: U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1977-2003 > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/crs%3ARL31635 ## Record - **Collection:** Congressional research report - **Document type:** CRS Report - **Published:** February 23, 2004 - **Citation:** RL31635 ## Text 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. CRS-7 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. --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/crs%3ARL31635. Public record. Not legal advice.