Judicial Confirmations May Slow in 2020 with Mostly Blue State Vacancies

President Trump’s push to reshape the federal judiciary with conservatives is likely to slow in 2020 as most of the remaining vacant seats are for district courts in blue states like California.

Approval Hurdle: The overwhelming majority of the current and expected district court vacancies are in states with at least one Democratic senator, who must sign off before a candidate can be nominated.

Waiting Game: And it’s one thing for blue-state judicial selections to get nominated, but “it’s another to get (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell to push them to the front of the line,” said Brookings Institution visiting ...