The Senate Judiciary Committee reported U.S. Attorney nominees Steven Dettelbach for Ohio’s Northern District and Carter M. Stewart for Ohio’s Southern District out of committee today by voice vote.

Steven Dettelbach (ohio.gov)

Carter M. Stewart

The group of U.S. Attorney nominees endorsed by the panel grew to seven members with the addition of Dettelbach and Stewart. There are another 10 U.S. Attorney appointees that the committee has not considered yet.

The U.S. Attorney nominees reported out of committee (not including Dettelbach and Stewart) are:

-Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 18)

-Tristram Coffin for the District of Vermont (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 18)

-Joyce Vance for the Northern District of Alabama (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 18)

-John Paul Kacavas for the District of New Hampshire (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 25)

-B. Todd Jones for the District of Minnesota (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 25)

The U.S. Attorney appointees that the panel has not considered yet are:

- Jenny Durkan for the Western District of Washington (nominated: June 4)

- Paul Fishman for the District of New Jersey (nominated: June 4)

-Brendan Johnson for the District of South Dakota (nominated: July 14)

-Karen Loeffler for the District of Alaska (nominated: July 14)

-Florence Nakakuni for the District of Hawaii (nominated: July 14)

-Dennis K. Burke for the District of Arizona (nominated: July 14)

-Daniel Bogden for the District of Nevada (nominated: July 31)

-Deborah Gilg for the District of Nebraska (nominated: July 31)

-Timothy Heaphy for the Western District of Virginia (nominated: July 31)

-Peter Neronha for the District of Rhode Island (nominated: July 31)

Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)  called on the Senate again to move on all Justice Department nominees reported out of committee. Read our previous report on the delays here.

“I remain hopeful that the Senate Republican leadership will work with us to clear all these nominations for confirmation before the extended August recess,” Leahy said in a statement submitted for the record today. “Those that cannot be confirmed by unanimous consent or on a voice vote this week should be scheduled with appropriate time agreements for debate, and up-or-down votes upon the Senate’s return the week of Sept. 8.”

The panel today also approved by voice vote Vermont U.S. Marshal nominee David Demag and President Obama’s nominee to lead the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, David Kappos.

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) found little common ground on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. But they agree there are Justice Department nominees who’ve waited too long for confirmation votes in the Senate.

Jeff Sessions (gov)

Sessions said in an interview with Main Justice today that the Senate should bring Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney nominee Joyce Vance and Vermont U.S. Attorney nominee Tristram Coffin up for a vote.

We reported yesterday that Leahy pointed his finger at Republicans for delaying votes on eight Justice Department nominees, including five U.S. Attorney nominees who’ve already been approved by the Judiciary Committee.

The Vermont Democrat told The Blog of Legal Times there is “no excuse” for the holdups, especially on Vance, who is now serving as interim U.S. Attorney in her Birmingham-based district and who is supported by Sessions.

Vance and Coffin were reported out of committee on June 18. 

“Of course there are some that are controversial for the Department of Justice, but those two certainly are not,” Sessions said. ”It is time for [Vance and Coffin] to move.”

Southern District of New York nominee Preet Bharara, counsel to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the Judiciary Committee, was also approved by the panel on June 18. On June 25, the the panel unanimously approved U.S. Attorney nominees John Paul Kacavas for the District of New Hampshire and B. Todd Jones for the District of Minnesota.

Republicans led by Sessions have been critical of other Justice Department nominees, including Dawn Johnsen,President Obama’s choice to head the Office of Legal Counsel; Tax Division nominee Mary L. Smith and Civil Rights Division nominee Thomas Perez.

But Sessions said no Senate Republicans have approached him with concerns about the U.S. Attorney nominees.

While there’s been some grumbling in the blogosphere that President Obama isn’t moving quickly enough to replace Bush-era U.S. Attorneys, the current administration is actually moving faster on nominations than George W. Bush did in his first year in office.

President Bush submitted his first U.S. Attorney nominations on July 31, 2001.  President Obama, by contrast, has already announced 13 U.S. Attorney nominations. Five of the Obama nominees have already been reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, even though the panel since late May has been consumed with preparations for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings that are taking place this week.

Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he wasn’t sure if any of the U.S. Attorney nominees would be confirmed before the August recess. ”I really don’t know the answer to that,” Durbin said in an interview last week.

Even so, Obama is likely to see several of his choices confirmed by September. That’s about the same for Bush, whose first U.S. Attorneys weren’t confirmed until Sept. 14, 2001, when the Senate approved five U.S. Attorney nominations.

Obama announced his intention to nominate six U.S. Attorney candidates on May 15. On June 4, he forwarded those nominations to the Senate along with the nomination of B. Todd Jones for the District of Minnesota. On Friday, he announced his intention to nominate another six candidates.

Five nominees have been reported out of committee and are awaiting a confirmation vote in the Senate. They are:

Preet Bharara (North American South Asian Bar Association)

- Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York

Joyce Vance (doj)

(nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 18)

- Tristram Coffin for the District of Vermont (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 18)

- Joyce Vance for the Northern District of Alabama (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 18)

-John Paul Kacavas for the District of New Hampshire (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 25)

B. Todd Jones (Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi)

- B. Todd Jones for the District of Minnesota (nominated June 4; reported out of committee June 25)

The Obama White House sent seven U.S. Attorney nominations to the Senate on June 4. Of those appointments, five are waiting for a vote before the full Senate and two still need to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Awaiting Senate Judiciary Committee votes are:

- Jenny Durkan for the Western District of Washington (Nominated: June 4)

- Paul Fishman for the District of New Jersey (Nominated: June 4)

Paul Fishman (Friedman, Kaplan, Seiler & Adelman)

Meantime, three top Justice Department officials await confirmation votes in the Senate. They are:

-Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen (Nominated: February 11, reported out of committee: March 19)

-Civil Rights Division nominee Thomas Perez (Nominated: March 31, reported out of committee: June 4)

-Tax Division nominee Mary L. Smith (Nominated: April 20, reported out of committee: June 11)

Dawn Johnsen (Indiana University)

Johnsen’s nomination has been held up by conservative Democrats and Republicans uneasy about her abortion rights record. But by this point in 2001, Bush hadn’t even nominated an OLC head. Bush’s first OLC chief, Jay Bybee, was nominated on Aug. 3, 2001 and confirmed Oct. 23, 2001.

The Senate confirmed Bush Civil Rights Division head Ralph F. Boyd and Bush Tax Division chief Eileen J. O’Conner on July 20, 2001. The Senate voted on O’Connor 57 days after she was nominated by Bush. It took 81 days until the Senate voted on Boyd.

In 2001, the 50-50 Senate was controlled the Republicans only by virtue of Vice President Dick Cheney’s tie-breaking vote. Today, Democrats technically have a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. But ailing Sens. Robert Byrd (W.Va.) and Edward Kennedy (Mass.) are often absent. And the Democratic leadership also isn’t confident that moderate Democrats will vote with the party to stop a filibuster.

Read our previous report on the DOJ nominees delays here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved U.S. Attorney nominees John Paul Kacavas for the District of New Hampshire and B. Todd Jones for the District of Minnesota late this afternoon.

The meeting was originally scheduled for noon today, but was postponed due to the length of an earlier committee hearing.

The panel unanimously approved last week U.S. Attorney nominees Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York, Tristram Coffin for the District of Vermont and Joyce Vance for the Northern District of Alabama. The panel still must consider the U.S. Attorney nominations of Jenny Durkan for the Western District of Washington and Paul Fishman for the District of New Jersey, which the White House forwarded to the Senate last month.

The full Senate must still approve the nominees before they can become U.S. Attorneys.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Thursday on U.S. Attorney nominees Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York, Tristram Coffin for the District of Vermont and Joyce Vance for the Northern District of Alabama.

The three nominees are the first of President Obama’s U.S. Attorney picks to go before the panel. The White House has also forwarded to the Senate the U.S. Attorney nominations of Jenny Durkan for the Western District of Washington, Paul Fishman for the District of New Jersey, John Paul Kacavas for District of New Hampshire and B. Todd Jones for the District of Minnesota. The Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to schedule a vote on these four nominees.

A Democratic aide said it is too early to know if the full Senate will vote on the nominees before the August recess.

You can read our profiles on Bharara, Coffin and Vance here.