While it is the President who nominates persons to fill federal judgeships, the appointment of each nominee also requires Senate confirmation. In recent decades, however, appointments to two kinds of lower federal courts—the U.S. district courts and the U.S. circuit courts of appeals—have often been the focus of heightened Senate interest and debate, as has the process itself for appointing judges to these courts. Accordingly, the report, following a brief background section, describes, in successive parts, the three primary phases of the appointment process, namely
the selection of judicial nominees by the President, including the key role often played by home state Senators in recommending judicial candidates to the President; the role of the Senate Judiciary Committee in considering and deciding whether to approve and report out the President's judicial nominations to the Senate; and the Senate's floor consideration and confirmation of judicial nominations, through use of either its unanimous consent process or its cloture process. The need for a President to make a circuit or district court nomination typically arises when one of these judgeships becomes or soon will become vacant. When the blue slip policy is applied in this way, the Administration is well advised, before it selects a nominee, to consult with both home state Senators, regardless of their party, to determine the acceptability to them of a judicial candidate under consideration. Senators generally exert less influence over the selection of circuit court nominees than over the selection of district court nominees. The committee evaluator assesses the qualification of the candidate in the following ways:
by examining the candidate's responses to a comprehensive Personal Data Questionnaire, forwarded to the committee by the Department of Justice; by examining the candidate's legal writings and reviewing reported court decisions, briefs, legal memoranda, publications, speeches, hearing and argument transcripts, articles, and other writings by or involving the candidate; by conducting extensive confidential interviews of a broad cross section of judges, lawyers, and others who have served, or had other professional contact, with the candidate, to obtain their assessments of his or her integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament; and by interviewing the candidate near the end of the evaluation process, affording him or her "a full opportunity to address and rebut any adverse information or comments" that might have come to the evaluator's attention during the evaluation process. If the recommendation is to nominate, and it meets with presidential approval, the President will sign a nomination message, which is then sent to the Senate. Pre-hearing Phase

Upon referral of a judicial nomination to the Judiciary Committee, professional staff on the committee initiate an investigation into the nominee's background and qualifications. Under its long-standing blue slip procedure, the chair of the Judiciary Committee seeks the assessment of home state Senators regarding circuit and district court nominees to judgeships within or associated with their state, including whether they approve having the committee consider and take action on the nominee. Hearing Phase

At a confirmation hearing, lower court nominees engage in a question and answer session with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The questions, it has been noted, 
... typically address the individual's qualifications, understanding of how to interpret and apply the law, previous experiences in court, judicial temperament, and the role of judges. Reporting Options

The committee, when it ultimately votes on the nomination, has three reporting options—to report favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. Customarily, most of these nominations, particularly if uncontroversial, have reached confirmation under the terms of unanimous consent agreements. On this procedural track, the Senate by unanimous consent not only takes up nominations for floor consideration, but also arranges for them to either receive up-or-down confirmation votes or be confirmed simply by unanimous consent. For other judicial nominations, however, particularly those facing strong opposition, unanimous consent to reach confirmation may not always be attainable. In these instances, the procedural track, for a nomination to move forward without unanimous consent, involves the Senate, after taking up the nomination, voting on a cloture motion to bring floor debate to a close. Hence, under the reinterpreted rule, a simple majority of Senators, by voting in favor of a motion to close debate on a circuit or district court nomination, could compel a Senate vote on confirmation—something that, prior to the rule's reinterpretation, would occur only if a three-fifths supermajority voted in favor of cloture. If no Senator asks for a roll call vote, the Senate may approve the nomination by voice vote. A simple majority of Senators voting (with a minimal quorum of 51 being present) is required to approve a nomination. With only a simple majority of Senators voting needed to close debate on a nomination, the majority party in the Senate (which also was the party of the President) could, by its own Members alone voting in favor, invoke cloture on circuit or district court nominations, even against unified opposition to cloture by the party in the minority. For judicial nominations that fail to be confirmed, the appointment process ends with one of three possible steps—rejection by the Senate (very rare), withdrawal of a nomination by the President (occasional, but infrequent), and (by far the most common occurrence) Senate return of the nomination to the President at the end of a session, at the end of the Congress, or upon a recess of more than 30 days.
In recent decades, the process for appointing judges to the U.S. circuit courts of appeals and the U.S. district courts has been of continuing Senate interest. The responsibility for making these appointments is shared by the President and the Senate. Pursuant to the Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President nominates persons to fill federal judgeships, with the appointment of each nominee also requiring Senate confirmation. Although not mentioned in the Constitution, an important role is also played midway in the appointment process by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Presidential Selection of Nominees
The need for a President to make a circuit or district court nomination typically arises when a judgeship becomes or soon will become vacant. With almost no formal restrictions on whom the President may consider, an informal requirement is that judicial candidates are expected to meet a high standard of professional qualification. By custom, candidates whom the President considers for district judgeships are typically identified by home state Senators if the latter are of the President's party, with such Senators, however, generally exerting less influence over the selection of circuit nominees. Another customary expectation is that the Administration, before the President selects a nominee, will consult both home state Senators, regardless of their party, to determine the acceptability to them of the candidate under consideration.
In recent Administrations, the pre-nomination evaluation of judicial candidates has been performed jointly by staff in the White House Counsel's Office and the Department of Justice. Candidate finalists also undergo a confidential background investigation by the FBI and an independent evaluation by a committee of the American Bar Association. The selection process is completed when the President, approving of a candidate, signs a nomination message, which is then sent to the Senate.
Consideration by Senate Judiciary Committee
Once received by the Senate, the judicial nomination is referred to the Judiciary Committee, where professional staff initiate their own investigation into the nominee's background and qualifications. Also, during this pre-hearing phase, the committee, through its "blue slip" procedure, seeks the assessment of home state Senators regarding whether they approve having the committee consider and take action on the nominee.
Next in the process is the confirmation hearing, where judicial nominees engage in a question and answer session with members of the Judiciary Committee. Questions from Senators may focus, among other things, on a nominee's qualifications, understanding of how to interpret the law, previous experiences, and the role of judges.
The committee, when it ultimately votes on a nomination, has three reporting options—to report favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. Only on rare occasions has the committee voted to reject a judicial nomination or to report it other than favorably.
Senate Floor Consideration
Customarily, most circuit or district court nominations have reached confirmation under the terms of unanimous consent agreements. On this procedural track, the Senate by unanimous consent not only takes up nominations for floor consideration, but also arranges for them to either receive up-or-down confirmation votes or be confirmed simply by unanimous consent. If a roll call vote is asked for, a simple majority of Senators voting, with a minimal quorum of 51 being present, is required to approve a nomination.
For a minority of judicial nominations, however, particularly those facing strong opposition, the procedural track, for moving forward without unanimous consent, customarily has involved the Senate voting on cloture motions to bring floor debate on them to a close. A simple majority of Senators voting is needed to close debate on all nominations except to the Supreme Court. (Prior to a Senate reinterpretation of its rules in November 2013, a three-fifths majority was required.)
Nominations Not Confirmed
Judicial nominations sometimes fail to be confirmed. This occurs most often when nominations in committee or on the Senate's Executive Calendar are returned to the President at the end of a session or upon a recess or more than 30 days. Senate votes rejecting a nomination are rare.