Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) ended the 113th Congress with a holiday gift for President Barack Obama: 12 new lifetime-tenured judges to add to his legacy.
After wrapping up a series of executive branch nominations, the Senate voted 51-38 on Tuesday night to confirm Stephen Bough to be a federal judge in the Western District of Missouri.
Then the Senate confirmed 11 district court nominees by voice votes, to save time.
They are Jorge Alonso to the Northern District of Illinois; Haywood Gilliam Jr. to the Northern District of California; Amit Mehta to the District of Columbia; Allison Burrough to the District of Massachusetts; John Blakey to the Northern District of Illinois; Amos Mazzant III to the Eastern District of Texas; Robert Pittman to the Western District of Texas; Robert Schroeder III to the Eastern District of Texas; Joan Azrack to the Eastern District of New York; Elizabeth Dillon to the Western District of Virginia, and Loretta Biggs to the Middle District of North Carolina.
It was Reid’s final act as Senate majority leader.