[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Judicial Nominations

  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
confirm several highly qualified nominees to serve on the local 
District of Columbia courts--the DC Superior Court, which functions as 
the State-level trial court, and the DC Court of Appeals, which serves 
as the State-level appellate court right here in our Nation's Capital.
  Both courts are currently suffering from a vacancy crisis. There are 
16 of the 62 DC Superior Court seats that are currently empty, and 3 of 
the 9 seats on the DC Court of Appeals are also vacant, slowing justice 
and impeding public safety for all District residents.
  Last year, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs reported seven nominees to serve on the DC courts by a 
bipartisan voice vote. These include five nominees to serve on the DC 
Superior Court--Rupa Ranga Puttagunta, Kenia Seoane Lopez, Sean 
Staples, Ebony Scott, and Donald Tunnage--and two nominees to serve on 
the DC Court of Appeals--John Howard III and Loren AliKhan.
  Judge Puttagunta currently serves as an administrative judge for the 
DC Rental Housing Commission. She began her legal career as a law clerk 
in the DC Superior Court and the DC Court of Appeals and practiced for 
several years in the District of Columbia, focusing on family and 
criminal law. I am certainly pleased that my colleagues confirmed her 
earlier today.
  Judge Seoane Lopez currently serves as a magistrate judge on the 
Superior Court of the District of Columbia, a position that she has 
held for 9 years. She previously served as a bilingual attorney 
negotiator in the court's domestic violence division and as an 
assistant attorney general for the Office of the Attorney General of 
the District of Columbia.
  Judge Staples also currently serves as a magistrate judge for the 
District of Columbia Superior Court, a position he was appointed to in 
2013. Early in his career, he served as a law clerk on the superior 
court and then worked as a solo practitioner and an assistant public 
defender. He went on to work as a clinical professor for several years, 
supervising law students representing criminal defendants in DC 
Superior Court.

  Judge Scott has served as a magistrate judge on DC Superior Court 
since 2020. She previously served as a deputy director in the DC 
Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel as general counsel for the District of 
Columbia Office of Human Rights and the assistant attorney general for 
the DC Office of the Attorney General's housing and community justice 
section.
  Mr. Tunnage has served as a criminal trial attorney in the Civil 
Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice since 2009 and 
previously served as an assistant public defender in Miami, FL.
  Loren AliKhan has served as the solicitor general for the District of 
Columbia since 2018. She previously served as deputy solicitor general 
and spent time in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the appellate 
practice division of a DC law firm.
  John Howard III currently serves as an administrative law judge with 
the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings. He 
previously worked in private practice and served as an administrative 
law judge with the District of Columbia Commission on Human Rights.
  All of these nominees are experienced lawyers and adjudicators, and 
all of them are dedicated to serving the people of the District of 
Columbia.
  These are not controversial nominations. Unlike Federal judicial 
nominees, these individuals are extensively vetted by an independent, 
seven-member local commission, which recommends candidates for the 
President to nominate.
  During the last administration, the Senate confirmed 10 local DC 
judicial nominees, all by voice vote.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in confirming these nominees, each of 
whom has broad and strong bipartisan support.
  Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.