Tag: Federal Courts
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Looking again at where state and local courts are closed due to coronavirus
On April 8, the United States Federal Courts announced that federal judges nationwide have moved court operations virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is the latest in a series of changes that courts at all levels have enacted in response to the pandemic. As of April 8, a majority of states have suspended in-person…
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Justin Walker nominated to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
On April 3, President Donald Trump (R) announced that he would nominate Judge Justin Walker to the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to succeed Judge Thomas Griffith. Griffith announced he would retire effective September 1. According to The Washington Post, Walker is the youngest nominee to the D.C. Circuit since 1983. Walker…
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Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for March
In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from March 3, 2020, to April 2, 2020. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month. HIGHLIGHTS Vacancies: There have been three new judicial vacancies since the February 2020 report. There are 75 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial…
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Trump has appointed second-most federal judges through April 1 of a president’s fourth year
Donald Trump has appointed and the Senate confirmed 193 Article III federal judges through April 1, 2020, his fourth year in office. This is the second-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since Jimmy Carter (D). The Senate had confirmed 207 of Carter’s appointees at this point in his term. The…
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President Trump announces nominee for only open U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacancy
On March 30, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Judge Cory Wilson to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Wilson was previously nominated to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee…
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Fifth Circuit upholds limits on presidential removal power over CFPB head
A panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided 2-1 to uphold the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The court’s March 3 opinion said that the legal restrictions on the president’s authority to remove the head of the agency were “valid and constitutional.” Judge Stephen Higginson,…
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D.C. Circuit rules against HHS approval of Arkansas Medicaid work requirements
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against an attempt to allow Arkansas to institute work requirements for Medicaid recipients. On February 14, 2020, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit ruled in Gresham v. Azar that Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex…
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U.S. Senate confirms nominee to District Court of Puerto Rico
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Silvia Carreño-Coll to the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on a 96-0 vote. Overall, the Senate has confirmed 193 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—138 district court judges, 51 appeals court judges, two Court of International Trade judges, and two Supreme Court justices. Carreño-Coll was a federal…
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Senate confirms four district court nominees; Trump appointments reach 192
The U.S. Senate confirmed four nominees to U.S. District Court judgeships. The Senate has confirmed 192 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 51 appellate court judges, 137 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017. The confirmed nominees are: Philip Halpern, confirmed to the U.S. District…
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President Trump announces intent to nominate two Article III judgeships in New York
On February 12, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Jennifer Rearden to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Saritha Komatireddy to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Following nomination by the president, a federal judicial nominee completes a questionnaire that…