A long-vacant federal judgeship in Wisconsin could finally be filled

Despite past controversy over approving a replacement, the latest attempt to fill a long-vacant federal judgeship in Wisconsin appears to be moving forward with bipartisan support.

Earlier this month, both Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin turned in what are known as “blue slips,” formalizing their support of President Joe Biden’s appointment of personal injury attorney Byron Conway to U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

That’s significant because two years ago, Johnson blocked Biden’s previous pick from the judgeship from advancing to a hearing.

Conway’s nomination is set to receive a hearing before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee in “coming weeks,” a spokesperson for the committee’s Democratic majority said Monday. The process will not be affected by Biden’s announcement on Sunday, in which he pulled out of the race for another presidential term, the spokesperson said.

Johnson’s office did not respond Monday to a request for comment.

If Conway gets an OK from the judiciary committee, his nomination will then advance to the full Senate, where he’ll need majority approval before he can become a federal judge.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, says he believes Conway can secure that approval before Biden’s first and only presidential term ends in January.

“Nominating and confirming people is going to be the central thing that Biden is going to be doing as he wraps up his service” Tobias said. “So that all cuts in favor of Conway and others moving forward in the Senate. It’s just a matter of finding the time, and I think there is enough time.”

The federal court position in Green Bay has been vacant since 2019, when U.S. District Court William Griesbach, a George W. Bush nominee, took on senior status.

In 2021, Biden nominated Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge William Pocan at the recommendation of both Baldwin and Johnson.

But, in 2022, Johnson took back that support when he withheld Pocan’s blue slip.

In a statement announcing that decision, Johnson’s said Pocan did not fit the bill of someone “locally based and actively involved in (the Green Bay) community.”

He also accused Pocan of setting bail too low for criminal defendants.

“In addition, the tragedy in Waukesha never should have happened,” Johnson said at the time, referring to the 2021 attack in which a driver killed six people by intentionally driving an SUV through a Christmas parade. “That it did, is the direct result of soft on crime low bail policies and court orders.”

When he plowed through a crowd of revelers, the Christmas parade attacker was out on $1,000 bail following domestic violence charges in Milwaukee County, but Judge Pocan was not at all involved in his case.

William Pocan is the brother of U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont.

Both of the Pocan brothers are gay, and Rep. Pocan previously accused Johnson of being motivated by homophobia — a charge that Johnson denied.