The Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 14 approved Caitlin Halligan, the general counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, to fill one of four vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The action came on a 10-7 party-line vote. Halligan still needs a confirmation vote from the full Senate, something Republicans have blocked before.
Republicans have used Senate recess rules to repeatedly return her nomination to the White House in the past two years. Republicans did not comment during the vote, but she has faced opposition from gun rights advocates in the past because as New York state’s solicitor general she sued gun manufacturers as public nuisances. Senator Charles Grassley, D-Iowa, also has questioned whether the D.C. Circuit needs additional judges.
