The U.S. Senate has confirmed four nominees to U.S. District Court judgeships. Overall, the Senate has confirmed 156 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 43 appellate court judges, 109 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017. At the end of the 115th Congress in January 2019, the Senate had confirmed 85 of the president’s judicial nominees.
The confirmed nominees were:
- David Novak, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his oath, the court will have one vacancy, five Republican-appointed judges, and five Democrat-appointed judges.
- Frank Volk, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his oath, the court will have no vacancies, two Republican-appointed judges, and three Democrat-appointed judges.
- Charles Eskridge III, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. After he receives his judicial commission and takes his oath, the court will have one vacancy, 10 Republican-appointed judges, and eight Democrat-appointed judges.
- Rachel Kovner, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. After she receives her judicial commission and takes her oath, the court will have four vacancies, five Republican-appointed judges, and six Democrat-appointed judges.
Three of the nominees—Kovner, Novak, and Volk—were confirmed nearly unanimously with the Senate voting 88-3, 89-3, and 92-0, respectively. The Senate vote to confirm Eskridge was closer at 61-31.
There are 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system.