Carl Nichols
Carl J. Nichols is a judge on theUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia. On June 18, 2018, PresidentDonald Trump (R) nominated Nichols to a seat on this court.[1] TheU.S. Senate confirmed Nichols on May 22, 2019, on a vote of 55-43.[2] He received commission on June 25, 2019.[3] To see a full list of judges appointed byDonald Trump,click here.
TheUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia is one of 94U.S. district courts. They are the generaltrial courts of theUnited States federal courts. To learn more about the court,click here.
Nichols was a partner at theWashington, D.C., office of WilmerHale from 2010 to 2019. He was vice chair of the government and regulatory litigation practice group at WilmerHale from 2014 to 2019.[4]
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
On June 18, 2018, PresidentDonald Trump (R) nominated Nichols to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia.[1] TheU.S. Senate confirmed Nichols on May 22, 2019, on a vote of 55-43.[2] To read more about the federal nominations process,click here.
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Carl Nichols |
| Court:United States District Court for the District of Columbia |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 338 days after nomination. |
 ANominated: June 18, 2018 |
| AABA Rating:Unanimously Well Qualified |
| Questionnaire:Questionnaire |
| AHearing: August 22, 2018 |
| QFRs:QFRs(Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| AReported: October 11, 2018 (first)/February 7, 2019 (second) |
| AConfirmed: May 22, 2019 |
| AVote: 55-43 |
Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Nichols on May 22, 2019, on a vote of 55-43.[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website,click here.
| Nichols confirmation vote (May 22, 2019) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
 Democratic | 3 | 41 | 1 | ||||||
 Republican | 52 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
 Independent | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 55 | 43 | 2 | ||||||
Change in Senate rules
Nichols was confirmed to a U.S. District Court under a new precedent the Senate established.
On April 3, 2019, theU.S. Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a change to chamber precedent lowering the maximum time allowed for debate on executive nominees to posts below the Cabinet level and on nominees todistrict court judgeships from 30 hours after invokingcloture to two.[5]
The change was passed under a procedure, often referred to as thenuclear option, that requires 51 votes rather than 60.[6]
It was the third use of thenuclear option in Senate history. In 2013, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to confirm presidential nominees, except those to theSupreme Court. In 2017, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold required to confirm Supreme Court nominees.[7] For more, seeFilibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress.
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
TheSenate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Nichols' nomination on August 22, 2018.[1] On October 11, 2018, the committee voted 11-10 to advance Nichols' nomination to the full Senate.[8]
TheSenate Judiciary Committee favorably reported Nichols's nomination on February 7, 2019.[9]Click here to see how the committee voted. Nichols's nomination was one of 44 that Sen.Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reported that day.
Nomination
Nichols was nominated to succeed JudgeRichard Roberts, who assumedsenior status on March 16, 2016.[1]
At thesine die adjournment of the115th Congress on January 3, 2019, the Senate returned Nichols's nomination to President Trump.[10] Nichols was one of 51 individuals the president re-nominated on January 23, 2019.[11]
TheAmerican Bar Association unanimously rated Nicholswell qualified for the position.[12] To read more about ABA ratings,click here.
Early life and education
Nichols was born in 1970 inRhinebeck, New York. He earned his bachelor's degree,cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1992. He obtained hisJ.D., with high honors, from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was Order of the Coif, in 1996. During his legal studies, Nichols served as a member of theUniversity of Chicago Law Review.[13][4]
Professional career
- 2019-present: Judge,U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- 2010-2019: Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP inWashington, D.C.
- 2017-2019: Member, Management Committee
- 2014-2019: Vice chair, Government and Regulatory Litigation Group
- 2010-2019: Partner
- 2005-2009:U.S. Department of Justice
- 2008-2009: Principal deputy associate attorney general
- 2005-2008: Deputy assistant attorney general, civil division
- 1998-2005: Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
- 2002-2005: Partner
- 1998-2001: Associate
- 1997-1998: Law clerk to JudgeClarence Thomas,Supreme Court of the United States
- 1996-1997: Law clerk to JudgeLaurence Silberman,United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit[4]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2009: Attorney General's Medallion for Distinguished Service[4]
Associations
- 2013-2015: Member, American Bar Association
- 2018-present, 2003-2008: Member,Federalist Society[4]
About the court
TheUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia is one of 94United States district courts. Cases dealing with the laws of the District of Columbia are heard by this court only under the same circumstances that would cause a case under state law to come before a federal court. Appeals from this court are heard by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The court sits in the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse located on Constitution Avenue NW. The District has no local district attorney or equivalent, and so prosecutorial matters fall under the jurisdiction of theUnited States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The District Court for the District of Columbia hasoriginal jurisdiction over cases filed in the District of Columbia. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
The D.C. District Court hears federal cases within the District of Columbia. Its appellate court is theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
To read opinions published by this court, clickhere.
The federal nomination process
Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:
- The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
- The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by theSenate Judiciary Committee.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
- As part of this process, the committee sends ablue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
- After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
- If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
- If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
- The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
- If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
- If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.
See also
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
External links
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Biography from theFederal Judicial Center
- LinkedIn profile
- Profile from WilmerHale (archived September 2018)
Footnotes
- ↑1.01.11.21.3Congress.gov, "PN2145 — Carl J. Nichols — The Judiciary," accessed May 23, 2019
- ↑2.02.12.2Congress.gov, "PN243 — Carl J. Nichols — The Judiciary," accessed May 23, 2019
- ↑Federal Judicial Center, "Nichols, Carl John," accessed June 27, 2019
- ↑4.04.14.24.34.4Senate Judiciary Committee, "Questionnaire for judicial nominees: Carl John Nichols," accessed May 23, 2019
- ↑The Hill, "GOP triggers 'nuclear option' to speed up Trump picks," April 3, 2019
- ↑Axios, "Senate GOP invokes 'nuclear option' to speed up confirmations of Trump nominees," April 3, 2019
- ↑NBC News, "McConnell to use 'nuclear option' to confirm lower-level nominees," April 2, 2019
- ↑Senate Judiciary Committee, "Results of the Executive Business Meeting," October 11, 2018
- ↑U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, "Results of Executive Business Meeting," February 7, 2019
- ↑Under Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, pending nominations are returned to the president if the Senate adjournssine die or recesses for more than 30 days.Congressional Research Service, "Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations: Committee and Floor Procedure," April 11, 2017
- ↑WhiteHouse.gov, "Nominations Sent to the Senate," January 23, 2019
- ↑American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III and Article IV judicial nominees, 115th Congress," accessed October 11, 2018
- ↑WhiteHouse.gov, "President Donald J. Trump Announces Fifteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Fourteenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees, and Ninth Wave of United States Marshal Nominees," June 7, 2018
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by - | United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court 2024-Present | Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - | United States District Court for the District of Columbia 2019-Present | Succeeded by - |
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- Pages using DynamicPageList3 parser function
- Appointed by Donald Trump
- Confirmed 2019
- District of Columbia
- Federal Article III judges
- Federal judge,
- Federal judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- Federal judiciary nominee, June 2018
- United States of America
- Federal judge, District of Columbia
