Senate Judiciary Committee Update

On September 16, the committee held a hearing featuring a crowd of six district court nominees: Daniel Ballou to the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Richard Bennett to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas; Courtney Coker to the District Court for the Northern District of Texas; Trevor Pemberton to the District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma; Zachary West to the District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma; and Kyle Reardon to the District Court for the District of Alaska. 

The next mark-up is scheduled for September 24. The committee will vote on the nominations of Judge Anna St. John to the Fifth Circuit Court and Gregory Cook to the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. 

Another hearing is possible for September 30. The committee has a raft of nominees to process before the end of the 119th Congress. Many of these nominees have troubling records of extreme views and partisan activities. 

Supreme Court Hearings Conclude for 2025-26 Term; Read Our SCOTUS Term Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up: September 19

Fall begins ushering in colorful leaves, shorter days, hopefully cooler temperatures, pumpkin spice everything, and the midterm elections! 

Of course, we’ve got voting on our mind as do the Senate and the federal courts. On September 10, in an unsigned order, the Supreme Court paused a lower court ruling that would have instituted a new congressional map in Missouri, drawn to give Republicans an additional House seat in the upcoming election. Their decision came after Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees emergency appeals from Missouri, left in place a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that prohibited use of the new map. 

Days later, on September 14, the US Supreme Court stepped in again on a voting issue. In a brief order, to which Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, the Court rejected an emergency application by the Trump administration which sought to block a lower court ruling. That ruling found the administration’s new regulation regarding the US Postal Service’s handling of mail-in ballots was likely unconstitutional. 

In addition to the Supreme Court, lower federal courts are being asked to weigh in on a variety of voting-related cases. 

Senate Republicans no doubt had voting on their minds when they welcomed Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) back from a three-month absence. His first vote back provided the winning vote to invoke cloture on Matthew Byrne to the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (47-46). Byrne was subsequently confirmed 52-45 (a vote which Sen. McConnell missed). On September 18, Kasdin Mitchell was confirmed 49-45 to the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and cloture was filed on Angela Colmenaro to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas. We now have 55 Trump judges confirmed. Courts Matter Illinois opposes all of these nominees.

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