Senate Democrats Pull Vote on SDNY Judge Nominee Dale Ho (2)

Senate Democrats in a rare move canceled a procedural floor vote to advance Biden nominee Dale Ho to be a judge on the federal district court covering Manhattan.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Wednesday's vote to invoke cloture, or end debate, was pulled "because we didn't have full attendance but we’re going to move to get him" confirmed. The vote has yet to be rescheduled.

Ho, a voting rights lawyer with the ACLU, has waited more than 20 months for confirmation to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York

President Joe Biden first nominated Ho in September 2021. Conservative opposition and a deadlock in the Senate Judiciary Committee prevented him from initially moving forward, though he cleared the Democratic-led committee in February on a party line vote, 11-10.

At his December 2021 hearing, Ho faced questions about his advocacy, including past social media posts.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday criticized Ho as being too progressive for a lifetime position on the federal bench.

"Senate Republicans will not participate in rubber-stamping radical nominees," he said in a floor speech before the vote was canceled.

Democrats hold a 51-49 Senate majority, and the extended health-related absences of caucus members, including Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in particular, disrupted their efforts in recent months to confirm Biden judicial picks opposed by Republicans. They’ve both returned.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was the only member absent from Wednesday's vote and was working from home due to a sinus infection. She expects to be back in Washington next week, spokesperson Amir Avin said.

It's also possible Ho lacks unanimous support of the Democratic caucus. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) became the first Democrat to defect from a Biden judicial nominee with votes against Nancy Abudu for the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She was ultimately confirmed.

The move by Manchin cast doubt on his support of other judicial nominees who’ve faced GOP scrutiny for their progressive legal careers. Manchin is up for re-election in 2024 in a competitive state.

There was no indication that Manchin opposes Ho, however, and his office didn't return a request for comment on whether he would support him.

Ho, who also worked at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), would bring roughly 15 years of civil rights experience to the bench, including two arguments before the US Supreme Court challenging the Trump administration's attempt to add a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tiana Headley in Washington at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Seth Stern at [email protected]; John Crawley at [email protected]

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