Returns and Resubmissions of Nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals and District Courts, 1977-2006

Publication Date: January 2007

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Justice

Type:

Abstract:

This report provides basic data on all nominees to the courts of appeals and district courts whose nominations have been resubmitted from 1977 through 2006. During this period, the Senate returned to the President 243 nominations to the district courts and 145 nominations to the courts of appeals. The 107th Congress had the most returns (71) since 1977, followed by the 102nd Congress (55 returns) and the 109th Congress (50 returns). Between 1977 and 2006, 16.9% of district court nominations were returned; 31.5% of courts of appeals nominations were returned to the President in the same time frame.

The President resubmitted the nominations of 197 individuals to the Senate between 1977 and 2006. Thirty-two of those 197 individuals were renominated by a President different from the President who originally nominated them. Eleven of those 32 individuals (10 to district courts, one to the courts of appeals) were nominated by a President whose party was different from the original nominating President's.

Of 288 individuals nominated to the courts of appeals only one time between 1977 and 2006, 249 (86.5%) were confirmed; 48 of the 70 (68.6%) courts of appeals nominees nominated more than once were confirmed. Of 1,174 individuals nominated to the district courts only once between 1977 and 2006, 1,059 (90.2%) were confirmed; 112 of 127 (88.2%) of district court nominees who were nominated more than once were confirmed.

The data used throughout the report come from the Congressional Research Service Judicial Nominations Database, built using data from the Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate and supplemented by the Legislative Information Service (LIS) database. The resubmission tables may be used to complement CRS Report RL31868, U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations by President George W. Bush During the 107th - 109th Congresses, by Denis Steven Rutkus, Kevin M. Scott, and Maureen Bearden; and CRS Report RL31635, Judicial Nomination Statistics: U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1977-2003, by Denis Steven Rutkus and Mitchel A. Sollenberger.