Caitlin Halligan: D.C. Circuit nomination, 2010–2013

The court and the proposed appointment

On September 29, 2010, Caitlin Halligan was nominated by President Barack Obama for the D.C. Circuit seat previously held by John Roberts, according to Wikipedia's public-service account. The nomination proposed an appointment to the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia. Wikipedia's reference article on that court identifies its geographic jurisdiction and the prominence of administrative and constitutional law in its work. That institutional setting explains the proposed office without attributing particular views or future decisions to the nominee.

Halligan had previously served as Solicitor General of New York from 2001 until 2007, according to the public-service account. The source also records her later work as general counsel in the Manhattan district attorney's office. These government posts were part of the public professional record preceding Senate consideration. They were separate from the federal judicial office for which she was nominated. The D.C. Circuit guide provides the broader court context.

A hearing and committee recommendation

The Senate returned Halligan's initial nomination on December 22, 2010, after taking no action, according to Wikipedia’s nomination history. Obama nominated her again on January 5, 2011, as the same history records. The return did not constitute confirmation or a floor rejection. It ended that submission's Senate record, while the renewed submission reopened consideration for the same judicial office. Repeated nomination events therefore need to be followed individually even where the proposed office did not change.

The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on February 2, 2011, and reported the nomination favorably on March 10, 2011, by a 10–8 vote, according to the public-service account. These were committee-stage actions. The hearing allowed examination of the nominee, and reporting advanced the nomination to the chamber. Neither event supplied the full Senate's final consent to appointment. The distinction helps explain why the nomination could reach the floor but still end without a confirmation vote.

Unsuccessful cloture and renewed submissions

On December 6, 2011, the Senate failed to invoke cloture by 54–45, short of the 60 votes required, according to Wikipedia’s floor-proceedings account. The motion concerned ending debate, rather than directly confirming or rejecting Halligan. The Senate returned the nomination on December 17, 2011, as the source records. These events were different formal endpoints within the consideration period: an unsuccessful procedural vote followed by the return of the nomination.

The next sequence included renewed nomination on June 11, 2012, return on August 3, 2012, and another nomination on September 19, 2012, according to the nomination history. These submissions show that a returned nomination could receive further consideration through another presidential nomination. The Congressional Research Service's appointment-process overview describes that possibility in general. Renomination did not supply confirmation; it gave the Senate another nomination to consider under its procedures.

The nomination was returned again on January 2, 2013, and renewed on January 3, 2013, as Wikipedia records. The source places the return at the close of the Senate's term. This sequence illustrates why the date of an initial nomination and the date of final action can be separated by intervening returns and submissions. A summary table compresses that history, while an individual profile can distinguish the successive actions that led to the eventual outcome.

The last committee and floor actions

The committee reported Halligan's nomination on February 14, 2013; the initial tally was 10–8 and the final tally became 10–7 after a senator changed his recorded response, according to the public-service account. The source records the adjustment, so the final committee tally should be distinguished from its initial form. Reporting again moved the nomination toward Senate consideration. It did not resolve the subsequent question of closing floor debate.

Cloture failed on March 6, 2013, by 51 ayes to 41 nays, according to Wikipedia’s account. Halligan requested withdrawal on March 22, 2013, and Obama withdrew the nomination that day, as the same source records. Wikipedia's table of unsuccessful Obama nominations gives March 22, 2013, as the final-action date and withdrawal by the President as the outcome. The source-recorded result was withdrawal after cloture proceedings, without a direct Senate confirmation vote.

Later appointments and the federal outcome

Wikipedia's nomination table records that Patricia Millett filled the D.C. Circuit seat; its account places her confirmation on December 10, 2013, as the article records. That appointment was a separate nomination for the office Halligan had been proposed to fill. Halligan later became an associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals in April 2023, according to her public-service account. The later state judicial office did not change the federal nomination's withdrawn outcome.

The Barack Obama era overview compares Halligan's final action with other withdrawals and returns. The related cloture explanation develops the distinction between limiting debate and granting consent to appointment. Halligan's history is particularly useful for reading repeated nominations: the hearing, committee recommendations and floor procedural votes were real steps, but the record still ended without a confirmed federal appointment. Each later public office retained its own appointment history.