Expert on hopes for Idaho’s new judge nominee getting confirmed this session: ‘Slim,’ but ‘could happen’

So what are the chances that Idaho’s newly nominated federal district judge, David Nye, will get confirmed? Idaho’s two GOP senators, Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, say they’re pushing for it. But Russell Wheeler, a fellow with the Brookings Institution and an expert on the selection of federal judges, said, “He’s got 34 people ahead of him, 34 pending nominees. And the Senate has been moving at a snail’s pace.”

Of those 34 pending U.S. District Court nominees, 14 already have had Senate hearings, which Nye still would need to undergo. “I think the chances that today’s nominee will get a floor vote this session are slim,” Wheeler said, “although if this Senate is willing to confirm judges in September and October, as previous Senates have done in presidential final years, it could happen.”