A Washington state court judge and a law clerk to a federal judge in Rochester, New York, both nominated by President Joe Biden Federal trial court judges withdrew their names from further consideration.
Spokane County, Wash., Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren and Colleen Holland of Rochester were two of five candidates whose appointments to lifetime positions on the bench expired at the end of 2023 and were not among the 18 nominees . White House resubmitted Monday for further consideration by the Senate.
Although the fate of the other three is unclear – Biden could still name them at a later date – Bjelkengren and Holland, in separate emails to Reuters, confirmed that they had asked the White House not to submit to their names again in the Democratic-led Senate.
Bjelkengren, who had been selected to serve in the Eastern District of Washington, had sparked Republican opposition after she was unable to answer questions asked at a January 2023 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing by Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana on the Constitution.
“I have asked the president not to re-nominate me due to uncertainty over my confirmation and in order to advance the important work of the federal judiciary,” Bjelkengren said. “I hope for a quick confirmation of the next candidate.”
Holland called his choice to withdraw from consideration “a personal decision made after careful consideration.”
The Rochester native was appointed to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York on the recommendation of New York’s two Democratic senators, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Holland was 39 when she was nominated, making her one of Biden’s youngest judicial nominees for a lifetime position on the bench.
A spokesperson for Schumer said Tuesday that the senator respected Holland’s decision and would “move quickly with the administration to nominate an individual to this important judicial position.”
Holland has worked at the district court since 2014, primarily under Chief Judge Elizabeth Wolford, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, who is the first woman to serve on that court.
At the time of her appointment, she was a special advisor to the judge and had worked as a career lawyer with her since 2018.
Other candidates who were not re-nominated Monday include Scott Colom, a Mississippi prosecutor whose judicial nomination was blocked last year by one of his home state’s Republican senators, Cindy Hyde-Smith.
The other two pending nominees are Judge Todd Edelman of the District of Columbia Superior Court, who has been appointed to serve as a federal judge in Washington, and Judge Marian Gaston of the San Diego Superior Court, nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California.
Colom declined to comment. The other candidates could not be reached for comment.
