WASHINGTON (CN) — A politically tense Senate Judiciary Committee pushed ahead a slew of federal judicial nominees Thursday morning but remained sharply divided over three judges, leaving their chances at the federal bench in peril.
Despite agreeing to move forward with a chamber-wide vote on nine of President Joe Biden's nominees to federal courts, the panel split down party lines over the nominations of Holly Thomas to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Charlotte Sweeney for the District of Colorado and Hernan Vera for the Central District of California.
The future of the three candidates now sits in limbo. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have the opportunity to move for the dismissal of their nominations in the equally divided Senate.
The partisan vote on the three nominees materialized what have been months of strained politics plaguing the committee's confirmation hearings, with Republicans hitting out at Biden's nomination of increasingly demographically and professionally diverse candidates as activists and questioning the ability of former public defenders and civil rights attorneys to serve impartially.
Thomas' history as a civil rights attorney and previous work with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund drew criticism from Republicans who labeled the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge as an activist, despite Thomas' assertions that it was her job to advocate for clients and their beliefs when she worked as an attorney.
"But when I look at your career, I don't see that. I see that you are passionately committed to a particular vision of law," Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said to Thomas during a meeting back in October.
Back when she worked for the New York Solicitor General, Thomas filed an amicus brief challenging a North Carolina state law in federal court that banned transgender and nonbinary people from using the restroom aligned with their gender identities. Republicans were eager to confront Thomas about this brief during her confirmation hearing.
If confirmed, Thomas would be the first Black woman from California to serve on the Ninth Circuit in California.
Sweeney, a nominee to the District of Colorado, was also set to make history. If confirmed, she would be the first LGBTQ woman west of the Mississippi to serve as a federal district court judge.
She currently works in private practice, representing clients in employment disputes.
Vera was nominated by Biden to serve in the Central District of California and currently serves as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court. He previously worked for Public Counsel, a pro bono public interest law firm, where he served as an attorney and then as president and CEO.
While the future of three of Biden's nominees looks grim, the committee agreed to favorably, albeit slimly, recommend nine of the president's nominees to the Senate.
Gabriel Sanchez, a nominee to the Ninth Circuit, Mary Katherine Dimke, a nominee to the Eastern District of Washington, Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpon, a nominee to the Central District of California, Jennifer Thurston, a nominee to the Eastern District of California, Samantha Elliott, a nominee to the District of New Hampshire, Linda Lopez, a nominee to the Southern District of California, Kate Menendez, a nominee to the District of Minnesota, Jinsook Ohta, a nominee to the Southern District of California, and David Urias, a nominee to the District of New Mexico, were all favorably recommended to be confirmed as federal judges by the Senate.
Biden has nominated judges to the federal bench at a historic pace with 64 nominations less than a year into his presidency, an attempt by the Democratic leader to counteract former President Donald Trump's court packing by elevating people of color, women and nominees with backgrounds in underrepresented areas of law to the federal bench.
A simple majority vote in the Senate is needed to confirm each nominee.
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