I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1853 

To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to provide for the 

automatic appointment of judges to the District of Columbia courts 

without the advice and consent of the Senate, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2019 

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 

Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to provide for the automatic appointment of judges to the 

District of Columbia courts without the advice and consent of the Senate, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia 

5 Courts Vacancy Reduction Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES TO DIS2 TRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS. 

3 (a) APPOINTMENTS BY PRESIDENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 433(a) of the Dis5 trict of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1–204.33(a), 

6 D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking ‘‘the 

7 President shall nominate’’ and all that follows and 

8 inserting the following: ‘‘from the list of persons rec9 ommended by the District of Columbia Judicial 

10 Nomination Commission established under section 

11 434, the President shall appoint all judges of the 

12 District of Columbia courts.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 433 

14 of such Act (sec. 1–204.33, D.C. Official Code) is 

15 further amended— 

16 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘NOMINA17 TION AND’’; 

18 (B) in subsection (b) in the matter pre19 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘nominated 

20 or’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (2) of subsection (b), by 

22 striking ‘‘his nomination’’ and inserting ‘‘ap23 pointment’’; 

24 (D) in paragraph (3) of subsection (b), by 

25 striking ‘‘his nomination’’ and inserting ‘‘ap26 pointment’’; 


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1 (E) in paragraph (4) of subsection (b), by 

2 striking ‘‘the President, for such nomination 

3 and appointment,’’ and inserting ‘‘the President 

4 for such appointment’’; 

5 (F) in paragraph (5) of subsection (b), by 

6 striking ‘‘his nomination’’ and inserting ‘‘ap7 pointment’’; 

8 (G) in the fifth sentence of subsection (c), 

9 by striking ‘‘then the President may nominate’’ 

10 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘the Presi11 dent may reappoint such candidate as judge.’’; 

12 (H) in the sixth sentence of subsection (c), 

13 by striking ‘‘not to so nominate such declaring 

14 candidate, he shall nominate another can15 didate’’ and inserting ‘‘not to so reappoint such 

16 declaring candidate, the President shall appoint 

17 another candidate’’; and 

18 (I) in the seventh sentence of subsection 

19 (c), by striking ‘‘then the President shall not 

20 submit to the Senate for advice and consent the 

21 renomination of the declaring candidate as 

22 judge’’ and inserting ‘‘the President shall not 

23 reappoint the declaring candidate as judge’’. 


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1 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act is amended by amending the item 

3 relating to section 433 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 433. Appointment of judges.’’. 

4 (b) APPOINTMENTS BY JUDICIAL NOMINATION COM5 MISSION.—Section 434(d)(1) of such Act (sec. 1– 

6 204.34(d)(1), D.C. Official Code) is amended— 

7 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘for pos8 sible nomination and appointment’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘for possible appointment’’; 

10 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘more 

11 than one nominee’’ and inserting ‘‘more than one 

12 person’’; 

13 (3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘of nomi14 nees’’; and 

15 (4) in the fourth sentence— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘the President fails to 

17 nominate, for Senate confirmation,’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘the President fails to appoint’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘the Commission shall 

20 nominate, and with the advice and consent of 

21 the Senate, appoint’’ and inserting ‘‘the Com22 mission shall appoint’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZING CONGRESS TO PREVENT APPOINT2 MENT THROUGH RESOLUTION OF DIS3 APPROVAL. 

4 (a) RESOLUTIONS OF DISAPPROVAL.—Part C of title 

5 IV of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1– 

6 204.31 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is amended by insert7 ing after section 434 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘AUTHORIZING CONGRESS TO PREVENT APPOINTMENT

9 THROUGH RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL

10 ‘‘SEC. 434A. (a) REQUIRING TRANSMISSION OF NO11 TICE OF APPOINTMENT TO CONGRESS.—Notice of the ap12 pointment of a judge of a District of Columbia court under 

13 this part shall be transmitted to the Speaker of the House 

14 of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the 

15 Senate by— 

16 ‘‘(1) the President, in the case of an appoint17 ment under section 433; or 

18 ‘‘(2) the District of Columbia Judicial Nomina19 tion Commission, in the case of an appointment 

20 under section 434(d)(1). 

21 ‘‘(b) TIMING OF APPOINTMENT.—The appointment 

22 of a judge of the District of Columbia courts shall take 

23 effect upon the expiration of the 30-calendar-day period 

24 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and any day 

25 on which neither House is in session because of an ad26 journment sine die, a recess of more than three days, or 


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1 an adjournment of more than three days) beginning on 

2 the date on which notice of the appointment is transmitted 

3 to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

4 President pro tempore of the Senate under subsection (a), 

5 unless during such 30-calendar-day period there has been 

6 enacted into law a joint resolution disapproving of the ap7 pointment. 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION OF EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR

9 CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTIONS OF DISAPPROVAL OF

10 COUNCIL ACTS TO CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTIONS OF

11 DISAPPROVAL OF APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION OF PROCEDURES.—The pro13 visions of section 604, except subsections (d), (e), 

14 and (f) of such section, shall apply with respect to 

15 a joint resolution described in paragraph (2) in the 

16 same manner as such provisions apply to a joint res17 olution disapproving an act of the District of Colum18 bia Council which is described in section 604(b). 

19 ‘‘(2) RESOLUTIONS DESCRIBED.—A resolution 

20 described in this paragraph is a resolution, the mat21 ter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: 

22 ‘That the llllllll disapproves of the ap23 pointment of llllllll as a judge of the 

24 llllllll.’, with the first blank filled in 

25 with the name of the House of Congress involved, 


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1 the second blank filled in with the name of the indi2 vidual involved, and the third blank filled in with the 

3 name of the District of Columbia court involved, but 

4 does not include any resolution which specifies more 

5 than one action.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

7 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

8 to section 434 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 434A. Authorizing Congress to prevent appointment through resolution of 

disapproval.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 

11 Act shall apply with respect to appointments of judges of 

12 the District of Columbia courts which are made on or after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 (b) TRANSITION RULE FOR CURRENT NOMINEES.— 

15 Section 434A of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act 

16 (as added by section 3(a)) shall apply with respect to an 

17 individual whose nomination as a judge of the District of 

18 Columbia courts is pending as of the date of the enact19 ment of this Act as follows: 

20 (1) In the case of an individual nominated by 

21 the President under section 433 of such Act (as in 

22 effect prior to the effective date of this Act), the 

23 President shall be deemed to have transmitted notice 

24 of the appointment of the individual as a judge of 


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1 the District of Columbia courts to the Speaker of 

2 the House of Representatives and the President pro 

3 tempore of the Senate on the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act. 

5 (2) In the case of an individual nominated by 

6 the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Com7 mission under section 434 of such Act (as in effect 

8 prior to the effective date of this Act), the Commis9 sion shall be deemed to have transmitted notice of 

10 the appointment of the individual as a judge of the 

11 District of Columbia courts to the Speaker of the 

12 House of Representatives and the President pro 

13 tempore of the Senate on the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act. 

Æ 


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