The Federal Tap: President Biden announces first nominees for federal judgeships

April 3, 2021Issue No. 247

Week in review

On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in Federal politics last week.

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Monday, March 29

Supreme Court issues per curiam ruling, accepts case for next term

• The U.S. Supreme Court released orders from its conference held on March 26. The court issued an opinion in one case that was not argued before the court and accepted one case to its merits docket for the 2021-2022 term.
• The court accepted and issued a per curiam ruling in the case Mays v. Hines without hearing argument. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Per curiam decisions are unsigned. The court reversed the 6th Circuit’s ruling that granted a new trial to Anthony Hines, who had been convicted of murder and sentenced to the death penalty. Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a dissenting opinion.
• As well, the court accepted a new case for argument during the upcoming term scheduled to begin this fall, Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, P.S.C. The case originated from the 6th Circuit and concerns whether a state official may intervene in a case to defend a state law that has been invalidated as well as Fourteenth Amendment protections of a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. To date, the court has accepted 11 cases for argument during the upcoming term.

SCOTUS hears three hours of oral argument this week to close out March sitting

• The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard three hours of oral argument during the week of March 29, closing out its March sitting during the 2020-2021 term.
  • On March 29, SCOTUS heard one hour of oral argument in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. The case concerns class action lawsuits pertaining to securities fraud and demonstrating the element of materiality in such cases.
  • On March 30, the court heard one hour of oral argument in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez. The case concerns whether Article III of the U.S. Constitution or Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Procedure authorize a damages class action lawsuit where the majority of the class was not actually injured, even if the class representative suffered an atypical injury.
  • On March 31, the court heard one hour of oral argument in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston (consolidated with American Athletic Conference v. Alston). The cases concern federal antitrust law and the NCAA's compensation rules.
• The court is currently slated to hear 12 hours of oral argument during its April sitting, scheduled from April 19 through April 28, and one hour of oral argument during its May sitting on May 4. SCOTUS began hearing cases for the 2020-2021 term on Oct. 5, 2020. Its yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.
• As of April 1, the court had agreed to hear 63 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Of those, 12 were originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 term but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Five cases were removed from the argument calendar and one was postponed.

Tuesday, March 30

President Biden announces first nominees for federal judgeships

• President Joe Biden (D) announced he would nominate 11 individuals to federal judgeships on March 30. Of those, 10 nominations would be for Article III judgeships with lifetime terms:
  • Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • Tiffany Cunningham, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
  • Regina Rodriguez, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  • Florence Pan, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • Deborah Boardman, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • Lydia Kay Griggsby, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • Julien Neals, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • Zahid Quraishi, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • Margaret Strickland, U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
• President Biden announced his intent to nominate Rupa Ranga Puttagunta to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, which is not an Article III judgeship. These judges are appointed to 15-year terms by the president.
• For comparison, President Donald Trump’s (R) first Article III judicial nomination–Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court–was submitted to the U.S. Senate by Feb. 1 of his first year in office. Trump’s first non-SCOTUS Article III nomination occurred by April 1 of his first year in office.
• At the start of his first term, President Trump inherited 108 Article III federal judicial vacancies. As of his inauguration in January, President Biden inherited 46 Article III vacancies: there were two vacancies in the U.S. courts of appeal, 43 vacancies in the U.S. district courts, and one vacancy in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Thursday, April 1

Supreme Court releases opinions regarding states’ water rights, automated telephone dialing systems

• The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) issued opinions in three cases that were argued during the 2020-2021 term:
  • Florida v. Georgia came to the court under its original jurisdiction over disputes between states and concerned the apportionment of waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. The case was first argued before the court on Jan. 8, 2018, during the court’s 2017 term. The case’s second argument took place this term on Feb. 22, 2021. In a unanimous ruling, the court overruled Florida’s exceptions to the Special Master’s Report and dismissed the case. Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered the majority opinion of the court. This is the second majority opinion Barrett has authored since joining the court.
  • FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project (Consolidated with National Association of Broadcasters v. Prometheus Radio Project) originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and was argued before SCOTUS on Jan. 19, 2021. The cases concerned the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) arbitrary-or-capricious test, whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adequately considered the impact of its rule changes on broadcast media firms owned by women or minorities, and asked SCOTUS whether the 3rd Circuit was right to block some of the FCC's choices on those grounds. In a 9-0 decision, the court reversed the 3rd Circuit, holding that the FCC’s rule changes were not arbitrary or capricious under the APA. Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the majority opinion of the court. He has authored two majority opinions so far this term. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a concurring opinion.
  • Facebook v. Duguid originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and concerned the definition of an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The case was argued before SCOTUS on Dec. 8, 2020. In a unanimous ruling, SCOTUS reversed the 9th Circuit’s ruling and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that a device must be able to store or produce a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator in order to be considered an ATDS under the TCPA. Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the majority opinion of the court, her third majority opinion authored this term. Justice Samuel Alito filed a concurring opinion.
• To date, the court has issued opinions in 25 cases this term. Five cases were decided without argument.

Ballotpedia’s polling index shows presidential approval at 52%, congressional approval at 23%

• Ballotpedia’s polling index showed President Joe Biden (D) at 52% approval and 43% disapproval as of April 1. His approval rating is down one point from this time last month.
• The highest approval rating Biden has received during his tenure is 54%, last seen on March 24. The lowest approval rating he has received is 51% on March 29.
• Congressional approval is at 23% and disapproval is at 55%, according to our index. Approval is up three points from this time last month.
• The highest approval rating the 117th Congress has received is 29%, last seen on Feb. 22. The lowest approval rating it has received is 20%, last seen on March 3.
• At this time during the tenure of former President Donald Trump, presidential approval was at 42% and congressional approval was at 18%. To see more comparisons between Biden and Trump administration polling, click here.

Congress is out of session

Both the House and Senate are out of session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 117th Congress.

SCOTUS is out of session

The Supreme Court will not hear oral arguments next week. To learn about the 2020-2021 term, click here.

WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Here's what is happening in Federal politics this week.

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Sunday, April 4

Deadline to pass for Congress to vote on five CRA resolutions that would overturn Trump administration rules

• Congress has until April 4 to reject any regulatory rules the Trump administration issued after Aug. 21, 2020, under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
• Democratic members of Congress introduced five resolutions last week under the CRA to review federal rules issued in the final months of the Trump administration. The CRA allows Congress to vote on rejecting regulatory rules that federal administrative agencies have issued. To reject a rule, both chambers of Congress have to pass a resolution disapproving the rule. President Joe Biden would then have to sign the resolution into law. CRA resolutions are not subject to filibuster, meaning only a simple majority is required to pass them.
• Since the CRA's enactment in 1996, Congress has repealed 17 out of the more than 90,000 rules published in the Federal Register. Sixteen of those instances occurred during the Trump administration.
• Here's a summary of the rules each current resolution seeks to block. To learn more about each, including arguments for and against, click the links:
• Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.) introduced companion resolutions to block an October 2020 rule from the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency. The rule aims to determine when banks are the true lender in situations where banks provide the money for third-party organizations to extend credit to borrowers.
• Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Delegate Michael F.Q. San Nicolas (D-Guam) introduced companion resolutions to block a November 2020 rule from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The rule changed regulations governing shareholder proposal submissions.
• Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) introduced companion resolutions to block an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule from September 2020. The resolution would restore the Obama administration's methane standards that the EPA reversed during the Trump administration.
• Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) introduced companion resolutions to block an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule changing the conciliation process, which is an alternative to litigation.
• Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) introduced a resolution to block a rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that sets expiration dates for HHS regulations unless the agency reviews those regulations according to Regulatory Flexibility Act requirements. As of March 30, no companion resolution had been filed in the Senate.

Where was the president last week?

• On Monday and Tuesday, Biden remained in Washington, D.C.
• On Wednesday, Biden delivered remarks on economic development and his administration’s plan to Build Back Better in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• On Thursday and Friday, Biden remained in Washington, D.C.

Federal Judiciary

• 74 federal judicial vacancies
• 0 pending nominations
• 26 future federal judicial vacancies

About

The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

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