Two of President Biden’s judicial nominees withdrew their nominations this month after the Senate Judiciary Committee failed to process them for confirmation votes.
Jabari Wamble had been nominated to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but after his nomination went nowhere, the president tapped him for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
That went nowhere, too. The Senate Judiciary Committee failed to schedule a confirmation hearing or vote for Mr. Wamble, a Kansas-based lawyer who has more than a decade of experience working as a prosecutor. He’s the son-in-law of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Democrat.
In a letter obtained by multiple media outlets, Mr. Wamble said he wanted to stay working in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.
According to multiple news reports, Mr. Wamble was expected to not receive a high rating from the American Bar Association, which evaluates and scores judicial nominees.
He’s the second judicial nominee in a week to withdraw from consideration.
Michael Delaney, who was nominated by Mr. Biden for the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, decided to remove his name from consideration for the federal judiciary.
He was reportedly facing criticism from Democrats for his past legal representation of a school in New Hampshire that had been sued by a family of a girl over sexual assault allegations.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said withdrawals of judicial nominees can be common.
“Nominees withdraw in every presidency for many reasons. For example, three Trump nominees resigned in his four years,” Mr. Tobias said. “Nominees in most administrations can wait long periods, because the selection process has become increasingly politicized. For some nominees, this means they may need to place their careers and lives on hold, but that did not seem true for these two nominees.”
Mr. Wamble’s nomination to the judiciary was pending for nine months, while Mr. Delaney’s nomination was pending for 16 months. Neither attorney responded to a request for comment about his withdrawal.
Despite the setbacks, Mr. Biden is outpacing his predecessor in confirming judges to the federal bench.
He’s had one Supreme Court justice, 34 appeals court judges and 94 district court judges confirmed to the judiciary since taking office, often touting their diverse backgrounds as minorities.
Under the same time frame, former President Donald Trump had two Supreme Court justices appointed, plus 41 appeals court and 69 district court nominees confirmed.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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