The current Congress has confirmed a total of 16 judges. In all of 2015, just 11 judges were confirmed, the fewest since 1960. There are currently 84 judicial vacancies on the federal courts, with 49 nominations pending.
Since Republicans took control of the Senate in January 2015, just one federal appeals court vacancy has been filled. Generally, Senators sign off on nominees for judgeships in their states before the president makes a nomination, but Republicans have recently refused to do so. President Obama has broken with this tradition and made several nominations to appellate courts, including Hon. Abdul Kallon, a District Court judge in Alabama, for an 11th Circuit Appeals Court seat that has been vacant since October 2013. Alabama’s Republican senators, Richard C. Shelby and Jeff Sessions, despite having supported Kallon’s nomination to the district court in 2009, have withheld their support.
Other Obama appellate court nominees include: Lisabeth Hughes to the 6th Circuit; Rebecca Ross Haywood to the 3d Circuit; Lucy Koh to the 9th Circuit; Jennifer K. Puhl to the 8th Circuit; and Donald K. Schott and Myra C. Selby to the 7th Circuit. A spokesman for the President said, “The calendar was running out, and it was time to get moving. At some point the process just has to get started.” He said the President is hopeful at least some of the nominations will get through.