As I said in the other topic, these kinds of deals are common in every Administration and I can certainly live with a deal if it's a good one. I'm not convinced that this is a good deal though. The only real details I've seen is that we'll be getting two US Attorneys in return for giving up a lifetime judgeship. Not only is that a catastrophically bad deal, it almost seems like it was timed by McConnell to get the Democratic base riled up against this President (the odds on that are certainly not low).
Biden’s pace of circuit nominations is mostly fine. Right now filling all the circuit vacancies before the midterms is going to be a close-run thing, so I understand the deal if the circuit confirmations are actually going to be easier. Still frustrating, though, as being just 2-3 judges ahead of the pace we’re on now (ie keep pace with Trump’s months 13-18) we probably wouldn’t need to do this. Virtually no judicial nominations were made in the two months following the KBJ nomination and now it’s coming back to bite us in the a**.
The district nominations on the other hand have had horrendous pace the last six months, with many potential hearing slots being left open. If the deal is being made primarily to get more district judges confirmed then Biden is absolutely the one to blame here. Only 11 nominations over six months is awful, and kind of a shock after Biden’s stellar first year.
There is definitely no excuse for the lack of nominations in the early part of the year. However, the pace for circuit court judgeships seems to have picked up over the several weeks. Right now, the problem seems to be with Schumer and Durbin. There are eight circuit court nominees awaiting floor votes (including one that needs a discharge vote). On top of that eight, there are another eight (the 3rd Circuit PA seat will have a nominee tomorrow, replacing a GWB appointee) awaiting committee hearings or committee votes. That leaves nine seats without a nominee as of yet (some of which should be easier than others):
1st (MA & NH)
2nd (CT)
4th (MD & SC)
5th (TX)
7th (IN)
9th (MT)
10th (KS)
There are two problems you didn't mention though. Trump and McConnell had almost every circuit court vacancy filled by the end, not to mention all the seats McConnell kept Obama from filling during his last two years (only for them to be ready for Trump when he took office). The process for filling circuit court vacancies also differs from district courts. The latter still operates with the blue slip process. District court nominees can also move a lot faster though too. I think they're right to focus on circuit judges though. That's effectively the end of the line for most matters of law in this country. The 3rd Circuit nominees can bring that court to a tie and the 2nd Circuit's de facto conservative majority can be flipped.
If we can somehow hold the Senate, the possibilities change significantly (to the extent of actually transforming the judiciary under SCOTUS), especially if it's an expanded majority. I'm not counting on that though and no one should (quite the opposite actually, which should be creating a strong sense of urgency).
