Although today's Judiciary Committee hearing was interrupted by a vote in the Senate, it was clear early on that neither state Judge James A. Wynn Jr. nor state Judge Albert Diaz is likely to face opposition by Republican Senators--including the South Carolina delegation, despite the fact that North Carolinian Judge Diaz has been nominated to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of South Carolinian William W. Wilkins. Acting Chairman Ben Cardin and Ranking Member Jeff Session both commended North Carolina's Senators RIchard Burr and Kay Hagan for their bipartisan support of the nominees--Senator Sessions observed that the minority would not have agreed to the unusual procedure of hearing two circuit judge nominees together otherwise. Indeed, the hearing was reminiscent of Judge Steve Agee's hearing last year for the senators' tripping over themselves to praise each other as much as the nominees.
While it may be possible that South Carolina's Senators, Lindsey Graham (who was not present for the hearing) and Jim DeMint, will work against the nominees (or at least Diaz) from behind the scenes, it appears unlikely. Their fellow Republican, Senator Burr, expressed his hope that the committee would expeditiously forward the nominees to the floor where they could be quickly confirmed, which suggests that he has consulted with them about these nominees whether President Obama did or not.
On that note, while it seems unlikely that any additional nominees will be confirmed before adjournment sine die--particularly given the state of the appropriations bills and health care reform--Senator Cardin ambitiously predicted that Virginia's Justice Barbara Milano Keenan would receive a floor vote in this session.
(It should be noted that, even if the Senate were to confirm Keenan, Wynn, and Diaz on the same day, their seniority on the court would depend on the dates of their commissions. As sitting state judges, each of them likely has active cases to dispose of before accepting a federal commission. In the unlikely event all three, or any two of them, should be commissioned on the same day, seniority within the group so commissioned depends on the ages of the judges. 28 U.S.C. § 45(b). By that measure, based on public information, Keenan, Wynn, and Diaz would rank in that order.)
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