Nomination commission begins first steps to address DC judge shortages

WASHINGTON (7News) — The nonpartisan body responsible for sending judicial nominees to the president has taken the first step to fill the mounting vacancies in the D.C. court system, though it still will likely take several months before any new judges are added to the bench.

The process to place judges on the bench in D.C. courts to handle local criminal and civil matters is different than the process in other states.

First, the nonpartisan District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission, which is an independent seven-member body that invites applications and conducts vetting of nominees, publishes a list of applicants for each vacancy and invites comments from the public.

For each vacancy, the Commission sends three candidates’ names to the president, who sends one nomination to the U.S. Senate to confirm in a committee, then on the full floor.

On Tuesday, the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission announced they have sent three nominees to President Donald Trump.

Trump now has 60 days to send one of these names to the U.S. Senate for their confirmation process.

Here are the nominees named by the commission:

1. Hon. Tannisha D. Bell: an Administrative Law Judge with the United States Department of Health and Human Services Departmental Appeals Board in the Civil Remedies Division since March 2021. Before joining Health and Human Services, Judge Bell was an Administrative Law Judge with the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings.
2. Hon. Robert J. Hildum: a Magistrate Judge on the Superior Court. Before joining the court, he was an Administrative Law Judge with the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings, presiding over matters involving Public Benefits, Unemployment Insurance, Worker's Compensation, and Wage-Hour disputes.
3. Hon. Stephen Rickard: a Magistrate Judge on the Superior Court. Since joining the bench, he has served in the Civil Division, including in the Landlord and Tenant Branch, the Small Claims Branch, and the Mortgage Foreclosure and Debt Collection calendars. He serves on multiple Court committees, including the Information Technology Steering Committee, the Committee on Jury Instructions, and the Committee on Judicial Education & Training.

A spokesperson for DC Courts told 7News, "We are not commenting at this early stage of the process, other than to admit, again, that we are in dire need of judges to address the ongoing and long-standing judicial vacancy crisis that continues to plague the DC Courts and those that we serve."

While being the first step toward progress, the Senate process itself will likely take several months, and the three nominees are for only one of the more than a dozen vacancies.

Currently, the D.C. Superior Court is down 12 judges out of 62 seats, and the Court of Appeals is down two judges out of nine seats - a total of 14 judicial vacancies across the court system. All told, the D.C. court system is missing 20 % of its bench.

That number has grown since a single senator blocked 10 nominees from being confirmed in the closing days of the 2024 congressional session, when there were 11 total vacancies.

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan) blocked the motion to confirm the 10 judicial nominees for the D.C. court system on December 18, 2024.

Confirmations for federal judges have become hyperpartisan in recent years, but Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md) tried explaining to the Senate that the process for D.C. judges was different because they handle local matters.

In fact, two of the 10 nominees were named by President Trump.

7News On Your Side asked Marshall's office, both in December and this past week, the following questions:

1. Why did Sen. Marshall block the confirmation vote?
2. Is Sen. Marshall aware that the judge shortages in D.C. have delayed justice for victims’ families and compounded the city’s public safety issues?
3. Is Sen. Marshall aware that D.C. judges are different from other federal judge confirmations?
4. Did Sen. Marshall know two of the nominees were named by President Trump?
5. What is Sen Marshall’s response to people who say his blocking of the confirmation vote makes D.C. more dangerous?

Nobody has responded.

7News On Your Side has covered criminal cases that have been delayed due, in part, to these judicial vacancies.

Almost exactly a year ago, Avion Evans, 14, was shot and killed by another juvenile. By D.C. law, this case should have gone to trial in June.

However, various procedural issues and judge shortages have played a role in this case still not going to trial. 7News On Your Side has been inside the courtroom when the judge told lawyers on both sides she could not hold hearings during certain blocks of dates because of how packed her schedule is.

Currently, there are only two judges who handle juvenile cases.

7News On Your Side spoke with Evans' mother, India Wells, in December 2024 when the Senate had continually kicked the can down the road on the confirmation process, and just days before Sen. Marshall ultimately blocked all of the judicial nominees that would have gotten the D.C. court system to a near-full bench.

"It's very desperate because if the court system only has two judges, we're talking about two out of the whole entire court system, that's a desperate need for more judges," Wells told 7News in December. "Just a lot of hurt and pain. Just having to deal with that alone, that's one thing, and then having to keep dealing with setbacks and setbacks and setbacks, and it's not being talked about, it's like it's being swept under the rug."