Dianne Feinstein’s replacement as California Senator, Laphonza Butler, will fill the empty seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, as announced by Democratic leadership on Tuesday.
Democrats are anxious to quickly confirm the White House’s court nominees, which have been backlogged for months.
Butler also confirmed she was tapped to serve on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Rules and Administration Committee.
Each new committee appointment must be approved by the full Senate — but Republicans have signaled that they will work with Democrats to fill the vacancies.
Panel chair Senator Dick Durbin has been working to achieve more bipartisan cooperation for President Biden’s judicial nominees.
Durbin has been pushing a procedural mechanism known as blue slipping, which allows senators to issue letters of approval for judicial nominees selected for their states. While critics have said the process is prone to abuse — lawmakers can withhold their support on a partisan basis — Durbin has positioned blue slipping as more of a bipartisan olive branch.