The procedural route for a circuit or district court nomination is as follows: Once the President has submitted such a nomination to the Senate, it is almost invariably referred to the Judiciary Committee. Typically, if the committee votes on a nomination, it votes to report favorably; however, in a very small number of cases, the committee has voted against reporting a nomination, or has voted to report the nomination either unfavorably or without recommendation. If a majority of the committee agrees to any one of the motions to report, the nomination moves to the full Senate. Additionally, the nomination remains in committee if the committee votes against reporting, if there is no committee vote on the nomination, or if the committee votes to table the nomination. Once a lower court nomination is reported to the full Senate by the Judiciary Committee, the nomination is listed on the Senate's Executive Calendar, with Senate consideration of the nomination scheduled by the majority leader. If the Senate, when voting on whether to confirm, rejects the nomination (as has happened on rare occasions), it is returned to the President with a resolution of disapproval. This report identifies, from the 76 th Congress (1939-1941) through the first session of the 113 th Congress (January 3, 2014), 19 U.S. circuit court or district court nominations that received other than a favorable vote from the Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee, or both. Among these 19 nominations were 18 (or all but one of the nominations) on which the Judiciary Committee voted other than to report favorably. Each cell provides the total number of circuit and district court nominations receiving the final committee and floor actions as indicated by the corresponding row and column. Table 2 lists the nominations to the circuit courts of appeals (7 in all) and district courts (12 in all) in separate sections. Beyond the scope of this report are U.S. circuit and district court nominations which were reported out of the Judiciary Committee and on which the Senate failed to invoke cloture. Two district court nominations were reported to the Senate favorably. One circuit and two district court nominations were ultimately withdrawn by the nominating President. The Senate Judiciary Committee failed to report all but one of these nominees to the full Senate. This was the case for 9 of 12 of the nominations during this period that received other than favorable votes by the Judiciary Committee or the full Senate.
Once a nomination to a U.S. circuit court of appeals or district court judgeship is submitted to the Senate by the President, the Senate almost invariably refers it to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If the Judiciary Committee schedules a vote on a nominee, it usually will vote on a motion to report the nomination favorably. However, the committee could also vote on a motion to report without recommendation, to report unfavorably, or to table the nomination. If the committee votes to report—whether favorably, without recommendation, or unfavorably—the nomination moves to the full Senate. By contrast, the nomination remains in committee if the committee votes against reporting, if there is no committee vote on the nomination, or if the committee votes to table the nomination.
Once a nomination is reported to the Senate by the Judiciary Committee, the nomination is listed on the Senate's Executive Calendar, with Senate consideration of the nomination scheduled by the majority leader. On rare occasions, the Senate, when voting on confirmation, has rejected a circuit or district court nomination. In such cases, the nomination is then returned to the President with a resolution of disapproval.
Between 1939 and the adjournment sine die of the first session of the 113th Congress on January 3, 2014, 19 U.S. circuit or district court nominations received other than a favorable vote from the full Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee, or both. These 19 nominations represent less than 1.0% of the total circuit and district court nominations during this period. Among these 19 nominations were 7 circuit court nominations and 12 district court nominations.
This report lists the votes cast by the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate on each of the 19 nominations and identifies senatorial courtesy, ideological disagreement, and concern over nominees' qualifications as among the circumstances that led to committee consideration of actions other than a favorable report (or other than approval by the full Senate).
Beyond the scope of this report are U.S. circuit and district court nominations which were reported out of the Judiciary Committee and on which the Senate failed to invoke cloture.
Senate and Senate Judiciary Committee actions on judicial nominations are discussed more generally in CRS Report R43369, U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations During President Obama's First Five Years: Comparative Analysis With Recent Presidents; and CRS Report R42556, Nominations to U.S. Circuit and District Courts by President Obama During the 111th and 112th Congresses.