President Biden nominates Nebraska magistrate judge Susan Bazis to federal judgeship

If confirmed by the Senate, Susan Bazis will fill a vacancy on the court left by U.S. District Judge John Gerrard, who assumed senior status — essentially a partial retirement — in February 2022. U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer said in a statement that she first recommended Bazis as a potential pick for the federal judgeship to Biden in January. 

“Her broad experience in both criminal and civil affairs will continue to serve our state and its people well,” Fischer said. “I encourage all of my Senate colleagues to support her nomination.”

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts also supported Bazis’ nomination, saying in a statement that he “applaud(s) Senator Fischer for working with the president to nominate a qualified and well-respected Nebraskan to the federal bench.”

Bazis was selected to join the federal bench as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in 2017. Magistrate judges serve eight-year, renewable terms and are responsible for the management of most pretrial proceedings in federal criminal and civil matters. Unlike other federal judges, magistrates are not appointed by the president and do not require Senate confirmation. 

Prior to joining the federal judiciary, Bazis spent about a decade as a Douglas County Court judge. Before that, she worked in various roles in private practice and, briefly, as an assistant public defender in Douglas County. She is a 1993 graduate of the Creighton University Law School. 

Bazis’ nomination is one of five U.S. District judge nominations made by Biden on Tuesday. This round of nominees caught the attention of Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law who studies federal judicial nominations, because they are all from states with two Republican senators: Nebraska, Texas, Wyoming and Utah. 

Tobias said this round of nominations shows that the White House has been making a concerted effort to work with Republican senators to fill federal court vacancies in their states, as evidenced by the endorsement of Bazis by Fischer and Ricketts. Republican senators in Utah and Texas have also thrown their support behind Biden’s judicial nominations. 

With the support of Nebraska’s senators, Tobias expects Bazis’ confirmation process to go smoothly. He anticipates that confirmation proceedings will begin sometime in January or February. 

After a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee will vote on Bazis’ nomination. Following approval by the committee, her nomination will head to the Senate floor for a final vote.