Another judicial vacancy goes unfilled as Senate leaves town | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Idaho’s long wait to get a new federal judge shows no signs of ending anytime soon, but Sen. Jim Risch says he’s still optimistic that the vacancy will be filled this year.

“We are pressing to get to the goal line, to get this judge approved,” Risch, R-Idaho, said Monday. “It’s just the process up there is such that it takes a long time. It is deeply, deeply involved in politics. . . . He’s in the queue.”

The Senate left town last week without confirming David Nye as the state’s second federal judge, which means there will be no vote until after Election Day, at the earliest.

Senators will return to work for a lame duck session in mid-November, but even then there’s no guarantee that they’ll vote on Nye.

The Senate has feuded over judges all year, with the Republican-led Judiciary Committee refusing to hold hearings for Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s pick to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

Nye was nominated by Obama in April and confirmed by the Judiciary Committee in July.

Since then, Risch and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, have been urging the full Senate to vote, citing a judicial emergency in the state. Idaho has had only one-full time judge since Edward Lodge reduced his caseload and went on senior status after first announcing his plans to leave the bench in 2014.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who’s a close follower of judicial nominations, said it was “unfortunate” that the Senate left town without confirming Nye and 19 other district court nominees that have won approval from the Judiciary Committee.

“He is an experienced, uncontroversial nominee and Idaho badly needs that vacancy filled,” Tobias said.

But he said that it will be up to Risch and Crapo to convince Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to allow a vote after the election.

Risch is hoping for a vote before the Senate adjourns for good this year.

“We think we have a path forward,” he said. “We are cautiously optimistic.”