Three Nominees Confirmed; 23 Left Waiting

The Senate voted to confirm three nominees to U.S. District Court seats today.  Mark Raymond Hornak and Robert N. Scola, Jr. were confirmed by unanimous consent to seats in the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Southern District of Florida, respectively.  Robert David Mariani was confirmed by a bipartisan vote of 82-17 to a seat in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Mariani, nominated on Dec. 1, 2010, has waited 323 days to be confirmed to fill his seat which has been declared a judicial emergency by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.  It has been 91 days since he was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition on July 21.  Scola is also filling a judicial emergency vacancy; it has been 169 days since his nomination on May 4, 2011.  Hornak, like Mariani, has waited 323 days for his unanimous confirmation by the Senate.

For the most accurate, up-to-date information on the judicial selection process, visit the Judicial Selection Project page.