Tuesday: Judicial nomination

by Jordain Carney - 01/19/16 10:10 AM ET

Senators will vote on Wilhelmina Marie Wright’s nomination to be a U.S. district judge for the District of Minnesota on Tuesday.

The Senate is expected to convene at 2 p.m. A vote on Wright’s nomination is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., after a half an hour of debate.

{mosads}Democrats have repeatedly criticized Republicans over the pace of votes on President Obama’s nominations since they took over control of the Senate last year.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, hit back at Democrats last week, saying that Obama has gotten more judicial nominees confirmed so far during his presidency than President George W. Bush had at the same point.

“I’ve said this before but it bears repeating, there is no judicial vacancy ‘crisis,'” he added. “2015 had the lowest average vacancy rate during President Obama’s presidency.”

Republicans are also under pressure from Heritage Action, a conservative outside group, to stop confirming Obama’s non-national security nominees.

“Senators should not grant unanimous consent to schedule any additional nomination votes,” the group said late last week.

The House is not in session this week.

Tags Chuck Grassley