Horan OK'd as U.S. judge
Butler County Judge Marilyn Horan is headed for the federal bench in Pittsburgh.
Horan, who was nominated in December to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania by President Donald Trump, was confirmed early Thursday afternoon by the U.S. Senate in a unanimous voice vote.
Horan's confirmation Thursday, which was celebrated by Sens. Pat Toomey and Bob Casey in a joint statement, marks the end of a protracted period of waiting for the veteran Court of Common Pleas judge. On Thursday Horan said her confirmation was an honor, but a bittersweet one.
“It's a tremendous honor, and I look forward to serving the Western District, which includes Butler, at the federal level,” Horan said. “I will really miss working with everyone in Butler ... because it's a fantastic court, bar (and) staff. It's a bittersweet feeling to be leaving that.”
Horan has served as a county judge since 1996, primarily in the court's civil and family division. Last year she assumed administrative responsibilities over Butler County Common Pleas Court.
On Thursday, Casey and Toomey praised Horan's experience, temperament and intellect, calling her confirmation a credit to their bipartisan approach to filling vacancies on the federal bench in Pittsburgh.
“Judge Horan's intellect, experience and character make her well-suited to serve as a U.S. District judge,” said Toomey in a joint statement released shortly after the Senate's vote. “I ... am confident she will serve the people of Pennsylvania well.”
Casey, in the same statement, called Horan's 17 years in private practice — she served as a lawyer with the Butler-based law firm Murrin, Taylor, Flach & Horan — a much-needed addition of expertise in civil, family, financial and administrative law to the federal courthouse.
“This breadth of knowledge and experience, as well as her temperament and commitment to public service, will be a credit to the bench and the people of the Western District,” Casey said.
Horan was first nominated to the federal bench in 2015 by President Barack Obama, but her confirmation languished on the floor of the Senate for months and never received a vote.
The prospect of a confirmation for Horan brightened considerably late last month, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed for cloture on more than a dozen of Trump's judicial nominees and U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Baxter of Erie — who was nominated alongside Horan in 2015 — was confirmed to the U.S. District Court.
At that time, both Toomey and Casey urged the Senate to act on Horan's nomination, noting that multiple seats on the district court have been vacant for five years.
According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the federal court in Pittsburgh is authorized for 10 judgeships and has just five full-time judges. Three other seats on the court are currently filled by senior judges — a form of semi-retirement in which a judge's caseload is reduced — and two seats have been empty since 2013.
There was no information Thursday on how quickly Horan would depart the county court for Pittsburgh, and plans to hand off administrative responsibilities once she leaves — a process that is governed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — had just begun to be developed. Horan said the supreme court was aware of her confirmation and that the justices “are in the process of making the necessary decisions and arrangements to prepare for transition.”
Who will replace Judge Horan on the bench? Using a procedure unique to him, Gov. Tom Wolf will get the names of prospective judges from the Republican and Democrat county chairs, but it will be the responsibility of the state Senate to confirm a judge to serve the remainder of Horan's term.
While the replacement judge does not have to be a member of the same political party as the judge being replaced, they will have to be confirmed by the Republican Senate. There are currently a large number of vacancies across the state that remain unfilled, and unless the Democratic Governor and Republican Senate reach a compromise across the board, those positions will remain vacant.
Regardless of what Wolf or the state Senate does to fill the Horan vacancy, there will be a primary and then a general election in Butler County in 2019 — and the voters will have a final say in the matter.
