Bringing greater diversity to our federal courts has been one of the most important and lasting accomplishments of President Joe Biden and Sen. Dick Durbin during the Biden presidency. We applaud their work, and yet, there is substantially more work to be done to bring balance and diversity to our courts to better reflect the makeup of the U.S. population they serve to ensure more equitable and balanced decisions.
As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Durbin, D-Ill., plays a critical role in making sure the Senate confirms as many highly qualified nominees as possible. Right now, the Senate has an opportunity to fill many more judicial vacancies, leaving none open when this session of Congress concludes in December. We agree with statements Durbin made recently about moving forward with the committee’s work and not allowing obstructionist efforts to cause delays in getting nominees confirmed. We encourage him to cancel the planned August recess so as to hold committee hearings during that month.
The number of announced judicial vacancies has risen to at least 119 with little time left in this Congress to fill these vacancies. At the current pace, we will see dozens of these vacancies remain unfilled at the end of the year. As concerned citizens of Illinois and this fragile nation, we urge Durbin to do whatever it takes to fill them all. The future of our justice system depends on this.
