Upon Further Review

The Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is authorized to have 14 judges in active service. The court, however, currently has three vacancies. Two of those vacancies, one in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey, existed before last November's presidential election and continue to exist now. The third vacancy occurred when Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher took senior status in February of this year.

In June of this year, President Donald Trump nominated professor Stephanos Bibas of the University of Pennsylvania Law School to fill the earlier of the two Pennsylvania vacancies on the Third Circuit. According to a recent article by Politico reporter Seung Min Kim, the American Bar Association has given Bibas the judicial evaluation of well-qualified, the ABA's highest rating for judicial nominees.

Filling judicial vacancies, in contrast to numerous other things, is an area in which Trump has received credit for advancing his agenda early in his time in office. In addition to confirming Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate has also confirmed three federal appellate judges thus far, two to the Sixth Circuit (both from Kentucky) and one to the Eleventh Circuit (from Alabama). In Alabama and Kentucky, however, both U.S. senators are Republican.