Carl Nichols

District of Columbia
	District of Columbia Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 15
	Judges: 13
	Vacancies: 2
Judges
	Chief: James E. Boasberg
	Active judges: ; Loren AliKhan, James E. Boasberg, Tanya S. Chutkan, Jia Cobb, Rudolph Contreras, Christopher Reid Cooper, Dabney Friedrich, Timothy J. Kelly, Trevor McFadden, Amit Priyavadan Mehta, Randolph D. Moss, Carl Nichols, Ana C. Reyes; Senior judges:; John Deacon Bates, Rosemary Collyer, Paul Friedman, Joyce Hens Green, Thomas Hogan, Beryl A. Howell, Ellen Huvelle, Amy B. Jackson, Henry Kennedy, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Royce Lamberth, Richard Leon, Richard Roberts, Barbara Rothstein, Emmet G. Sullivan, Reggie Walton

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Carl Nichols
	Court: United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Progress
	Confirmed 338 days after nomination.
	Nominated: June 18, 2018
	ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: August 22, 2018
	QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: October 11, 2018 (first)/February 7, 2019 (second)
	Confirmed: May 22, 2019
	Vote: 55-43

Carl J. Nichols is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. On June 18, 2018, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Nichols to a seat on this court.^[1] The U.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 by Donald Trump, click here.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is one of 94 U.S. district courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Nichols was a partner at the Washington, 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

See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On June 18, 2018, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Nichols to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.^[1] The U.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.

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

See also:

Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress

Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

United States federal courts

Nichols was confirmed to a U.S. District Court under a new precedent the Senate established.

On April 3, 2019, the U.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 to district court judgeships from 30 hours after invoking cloture to two.^[5]

The change was passed under a procedure, often referred to as the nuclear option, that requires 51 votes rather than 60.^[6]

It was the third use of the nuclear option in Senate history. In 2013, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to confirm presidential nominees, except those to the Supreme Court. In 2017, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold required to confirm Supreme Court nominees.^[7] For more, see Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress.

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate 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]

The Senate 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 Judge Richard Roberts, who assumed senior status on March 16, 2016.^[1]

At the sine die adjournment of the 115th 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]

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Nichols well qualified for the position.^[12] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Early life and education

Nichols was born in 1970 in Rhinebeck, New York. He earned his bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1992. He obtained his J.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 the University 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 in Washington, 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 Judge Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court of the United States
1996-1997: Law clerk to Judge Laurence 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

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is one of 94 United 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 the United 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 the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

The District Court for the District of Columbia has original 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 the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

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 the Senate 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 a blue 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.

External links

Suggest a link

Footnotes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Congress.gov, "PN2145 — Carl J. Nichols — The Judiciary," accessed May 23, 2019
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Congress.gov, "PN243 — Carl J. Nichols — The Judiciary," accessed May 23, 2019
↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Nichols, Carl John," accessed June 27, 2019
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 Senate 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 adjourns sine 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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