Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Courts Vacancy Reduction Act”.
District of Columbia Courts Vacancy Reduction Act
A BILL
To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to provide for the automatic appointment of judges to the District of Columbia courts without the advice and consent of the Senate, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Automatic appointment of judges to District of Columbia courts
Appointments by President—
In general— Section 433(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1–204.33(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking “the President shall nominate” and all that follows and inserting the following: “from the list of persons recommended by the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission established under section 434, the President shall appoint all judges of the District of Columbia courts.”.
Conforming amendments— Section 433 of such Act (sec. 1–204.33, D.C. Official Code) is further amended—
in the heading, by striking “nomination and”;
in subsection (b) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “nominated or”;
in paragraph (2) of subsection (b), by striking “his nomination” and inserting “appointment”;
in paragraph (3) of subsection (b), by striking “his nomination” and inserting “appointment”;
in paragraph (4) of subsection (b), by striking “the President, for such nomination and appointment,” and inserting “the President for such appointment”;
in paragraph (5) of subsection (b), by striking “his nomination” and inserting “appointment”;
in the fifth sentence of subsection (c), by striking “then the President may nominate” and all that follows and inserting “the President may reappoint such candidate as judge.”;
in the sixth sentence of subsection (c), by striking “not to so nominate such declaring candidate, he shall nominate another candidate” and inserting “not to so reappoint such declaring candidate, the President shall appoint another candidate”; and
in the seventh sentence of subsection (c), by striking “then the President shall not submit to the Senate for advice and consent the renomination of the declaring candidate as judge” and inserting “the President shall not reappoint the declaring candidate as judge”.
Clerical amendment— The table of contents of such Act is amended by amending the item relating to section 433 to read as follows:
Appointments by Judicial Nomination Commission— Section 434(d)(1) of such Act (sec. 1–204.34(d)(1), D.C. Official Code) is amended—
in the first sentence, by striking “for possible nomination and appointment” and inserting “for possible appointment”;
in the second sentence, by striking “more than one nominee” and inserting “more than one person”;
in the third sentence, by striking “of nominees”; and
in the fourth sentence—
by striking “the President fails to nominate, for Senate confirmation,” and inserting “the President fails to appoint”; and
by striking “the Commission shall nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint” and inserting “the Commission shall appoint”.
Sec. 3 Authorizing Congress to prevent appointment through resolution of disapproval
Resolutions of disapproval— Part C of title IV of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1–204.31 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is amended by inserting after section 434 the following new section:
“434A. authorizing Congress to prevent appointment through resolution of disapproval
“(a) Requiring transmission of notice of appointment to Congress—Notice of the appointment of a judge of a District of Columbia court under this part shall be transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate by—
“(1) the President, in the case of an appointment under section 433; or
“(2) the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission, in the case of an appointment under section 434(d)(1).
“(b) Timing of appointment—The appointment of a judge of the District of Columbia courts shall take effect upon the expiration of the 30-calendar-day period (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and any day on which neither House is in session because of an adjournment sine die, a recess of more than three days, or an adjournment of more than three days) beginning on the date on which notice of the appointment is transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate under subsection (a), unless during such 30-calendar-day period there has been enacted into law a joint resolution disapproving of the appointment.
“(c) Application of expedited procedures for consideration of resolutions of disapproval of Council acts to consideration of resolutions of disapproval of appointment of judges
“(1) Application of procedures—The provisions of section 604, except subsections (d), (e), and (f) of such section, shall apply with respect to a joint resolution described in paragraph (2) in the same manner as such provisions apply to a joint resolution disapproving an act of the District of Columbia Council which is described in section 604(b).
“(2) Resolutions described—A resolution described in this paragraph is a resolution, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: “That the ________ disapproves of the appointment of ________ as a judge of the ________.”, with the first blank filled in with the name of the House of Congress involved, the second blank filled in with the name of the individual involved, and the third blank filled in with the name of the District of Columbia court involved, but does not include any resolution which specifies more than one action.”
Clerical amendment— The table of contents of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 434 the following new item:
Sec. 4 Effective date
In general— The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to appointments of judges of the District of Columbia courts which are made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Transition rule for current nominees— Section 434A of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (as added by section 3(a)) shall apply with respect to an individual whose nomination as a judge of the District of Columbia courts is pending as of the date of the enactment of this Act as follows:
In the case of an individual nominated by the President under section 433 of such Act (as in effect prior to the effective date of this Act), the President shall be deemed to have transmitted notice of the appointment of the individual as a judge of the District of Columbia courts to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate on the date of the enactment of this Act.
In the case of an individual nominated by the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission under section 434 of such Act (as in effect prior to the effective date of this Act), the Commission shall be deemed to have transmitted notice of the appointment of the individual as a judge of the District of Columbia courts to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate on the date of the enactment of this Act.