With Democrats retaining at least 50 seats in the U.S. Senate heading into the new Congress, judicial nominations for the federal courts based in Colorado will likely continue to be filled in a timely fashion.

“I have no reason to believe that there will be any hiccups with any of those vacancies,” said John P. Collins Jr., a visiting associate professor at The George Washington University Law School who follows the nominations of federal judges.

President Joe Biden has already appointed three judges to Colorado’s U.S. District Court during his first two years in office, plus one member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which is based in Denver but has jurisdiction over federal appeals from Colorado and five neighboring states. Notably, all four appointees are women.

There are also two upcoming vacancies, as U.S. District Court Judges William J. Martínez and Raymond P. Moore have announced they will be stepping down as active judges next year. Both men are appointees of Barack Obama.

Biden selected U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher in September to fill one of those seats, and Gallagher’s nomination is pending in the Senate. Collins speculated if Democrats hold onto the Senate seat in Georgia, which is heading toward a runoff election next month, a 51-49 majority could make a difference in who the White House selects for the other seat.

“The White House can perhaps be more aggressive with a nominee,” Collins said.  “Someone younger, more openly progressive.”

Dan Burrows, legal director for the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado, agreed the “relatively smooth sailing” for Biden’s nominees in Colorado will continue into 2023.

“Under Republican control, it’s hard to say what would happen. There are certainly some in the Republican Party who think the Senate shouldn’t confirm a single judge,” Burrows said. “But senators are by nature deal-makers. Judicial nominations wouldn’t be a priority and the pace would slow, but I would be surprised if no nominations (got) through at all.”

Including the already-appointed judges and the impending vacancies, Biden is on track to appoint five of the seven members of Colorado’s federal trial court by the end of his first term.

It is less clear how many vacancies will arise on the 10th Circuit. Biden has already appointed Judge Veronica S. Rossman to a Colorado-based seat, and federal prosecutor Jabari Wamble is Biden’s nominee for a current vacancy out of Kansas.

In addition, three judges are eligible to take senior status, a form of semi-retirement that enables them to handle cases part-time while opening a vacancy for an active judge. Judge Scott M. Matheson Jr. of Utah, an Obama appointee, and Judges Timothy M. Tymkovich of Colorado and Harris L Hartz of New Mexico, both appointees of George W. Bush, meet the age and years-of-service requirements to become senior judges.

Both Collins and University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias, who also follows judicial nominations, said it is possible at least one of the Republican appointees might step down during the remainder of Biden’s first term. Tobias added that a Senate with 51 Democratic votes would put an end to the even partisan split of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and give the majority greater flexibility to advance nominees.

“This margin will also help on floor votes, b/c Dems will have less need for VP (Kamala) Harris to break ties, unless too many Dems are absent for votes,” he said in an email.

A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet – who, along with U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper was responsible for recommending candidates to the White House for Colorado vacancies – acknowledged the Georgia runoff election “will have a significant effect on the course of nominations and confirmations.”

Although the U.S. House of Representatives does not play a role in judicial confirmations, Burrows suggested Republican control of the chamber would have an upside for filling judicial vacancies.

“Insofar as the GOP controls the House and Democrats the Senate, less Senate-passed legislation will make it through,” he said. “So there will be incentive to focus on nominations, over which the Senate has full control.”