Judicial Nominations by President Clinton During the 103Rd-106Th Congresses
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Order Code 98-510 GOV Judicial Nominations by President Clinton During the 103rd-106th Congresses Updated September 20, 2006 Denis Steven Rutkus Specialist in American National Government Government and Finance Division Judicial Nominations by President Clinton During the 103rd-106th Congresses Summary Under the Constitution of the United States, the President nominates and, subject to confirmation by the Senate, appoints justices to the Supreme Court and judges to nine other court systems. Altogether, during the 103rd–106th Congresses, President Bill Clinton transmitted to the Senate: ! two Supreme Court nominations, both of which were confirmed during the 103rd Congress; ! 106 nominations to the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, of which 65 were confirmed; ! 382 nominations to the U.S. District Courts (including the territorial district courts), of which 307 were confirmed; ! six nominations to the U.S. Court of International Trade, five of which were confirmed; ! the names of seven nominees to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, all of whom received Senate confirmation; ! the names of nine nominees to the U.S. Tax Court, all of whom were confirmed; ! one nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which was confirmed during the 105th Congress; ! the names of 24 nominees to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 22 of whom were confirmed; ! five nominations to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, four of which were confirmed; ! and two nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, both of which were confirmed. Most nominations that failed to be confirmed were returned to the President after the Senate adjourned or recessed for more than 30 days. Most, though not all, of the persons whose nominations were returned at the end of the 103rd, 104th, and 105th Congresses were later renominated and ultimately confirmed. One Clinton judicial nomination was rejected by Senate vote. President Clinton also withdrew 11 judicial nominations (three to U.S. circuit court judgeships, eight to U.S. district judgeships), which either encountered difficulties at the committee stage or faced the likelihood of substantial opposition on the Senate floor. During the Clinton presidency, there were 59 roll call votes involving judicial nominations. Also, at the start of the 107th Congress, with less than three weeks remaining in his presidency, President Clinton submitted ten judicial nominations—nine to the Circuit Courts of Appeals and one to the Court of Federal Claims. Shortly after President Clinton left office, his successor, George W. Bush, withdrew all ten nominations but then renominated one of the nine circuit court nominees, who subsequently, in July 2001, received Senate confirmation. Contents Introduction ......................................................1 Nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States....................4 Nominations to the U.S. Courts of Appeals..............................5 Nominations to the U.S. District Courts ...............................14 Nominations to the U.S. Court of International Trade.....................31 Nominations to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims .......................32 Nominations to the U.S. Tax Court...................................34 Nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.............36 Nominations to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.............37 Nominations to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ................39 Nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces............40 List of Tables Table 1. Presidential Nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States During the 103rd-106th Congresses......................5 Table 2. Presidential Nominations to the U.S. Courts of Appeals During the 103rd-107th Congresses, 1993-January 20, 2001 .............8 Table 3. Presidential Nominations to the U.S. District Courts During the 103rd-106th Congresses, 1993-2000 ......................16 Table 4. Presidential Nominations to the U.S. Court of International Trade During the 103rd-106th Congresses, 1993-2000 ......................31 Table 5. Presidential Nominations to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims During the 103rd-107th Congresses, 1993-January 20, 2001 ............33 Table 6. Presidential Nominations to the U.S. Tax Court During the 103rd-106th Congresses, 1993-2000 ......................35 Table 7. Presidential Nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims During the 103rd-106th Congresses, 1993-2000......36 Table 8. Presidential Nominations to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia During the 103rd-106th Congresses, 1993-2000 ..............38 Table 9. Presidential Nominations to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals During the 103rd-106th Congresses, 1993-2000 ...............39 Table 10. Presidential Nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces During the 103rd-106th Congresses, 1993-2000 ..........40 Judicial Nominations by President Clinton During the 103rd-106th Congresses Introduction Under the Constitution of the United States,1 the President nominates and, subject to confirmation by the Senate, appoints justices to the Supreme Court and judges to nine other court systems. Specifically, the Chief Executive makes judicial appointments to the: ! Supreme Court of the United States; ! United States Courts of Appeal; ! United States District Courts (including the territorial courts); ! United States Court of International Trade; ! United States Court of Federal Claims; ! United States Tax Court; ! United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; ! Superior Court of the District of Columbia; ! District of Columbia Court of Appeals; and 2 ! United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Judicial terms of office vary, depending upon the court. Justices on the Supreme Court and judges on other courts established by Congress under Article III of the Constitution “hold their Offices during good Behaviour”—i.e., they receive lifetime appointments. In addition to the Supreme Court, the “Article III courts” consist of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the U.S. District Courts in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 1 Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 provides that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint ... Judges of the Supreme Court and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law....” 2 The President, it should be noted, does not nominate federal bankruptcy judges (who are appointed by the United States Courts of Appeals), administrative law judges (appointed by federal agencies), U.S. magistrates (appointed by the United States District Courts), or trial and intermediate court judges in the Armed Forces (appointed by the Judge Advocate General in each service); nor are these judges subject to Senate confirmation. CRS-2 Appointment to other courts in the above list entail fixed terms of various lengths. These are the so-called “legislative courts,” which are created by Congress under divers constitutional authority not requiring lifetime (“good Behavior”) tenure.3 During his presidency, William Jefferson Clinton nominated persons to judgeships on all of the above-listed courts. In the following pages, 10 separate sections provide background and statistics concerning President Clinton’s judicial nominations to each of the court categories listed above.4 Each section begins by briefly discussing the composition and jurisdiction of the court or court system in question. Various statistics are provided, including: the number of nominations to the court which were received, confirmed, or not confirmed by the Senate during the Clinton presidency; a breakdown of these numbers for the 103rd, 104th, 105th and 106th Congresses; and the number of Clinton appointees who were serving on the court at the end of his presidency. Also noted is the committee to which nominations to the particular court were referred after being received by the Senate. The most common ways in which a judicial nomination fails to receive Senate confirmation are these: (1) The President withdraws the nomination (doing so, for example, if the Senate committee to which the nomination has been referred either has voted against reporting the nomination to the Senate or has made clear 3 Citing the power to do so in Article I of the Constitution, Congress, in separate statutes, has created four courts of specialized subject matter jurisdiction—the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces—and has authorized 15-year judicial tenure in these courts. With similar explicit reference to its powers under Article I, Congress has created two courts of local jurisdiction for the District of Columbia, with judges to these courts appointed to 15-year terms as well. The territorial courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in Guam have been created pursuant to Congress’ power under the Constitution to “dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States” (Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2); also, Congress has established a territorial district court in the Northern Mariana Islands, which presently is administered by the United States under a trusteeship agreement with the United