Changing Senate Norms: Judicial Confirmations in a Nuclear Age

[...]of the first vacancy, I was an APSA congressional fellow in the office of a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. [...]I reflect on the landmark decision not to observe the institutionalized norm of committee hearings for Judge Merrick Garland (Collins and Ringhand 2016). [...]none of the bills or nominees were dispensed with before the recess (cf. Declining Likelihood of Committee Hearings Delaying a confirmation to the Supreme Court left party leaders concerned they might be labeled an ineffective majority. [...]the Senate considered other judicial nominees through regular order. Given that all judicial nominees are referred to the Judiciary Committee, senators use examples from the more frequent lower court confirmations as analogies of the Senate's contemporary style and approach to all nominations. Since 2000, less than half of the pending nominees have received a hearing in the eighth year of a president's term.