Senators Duckworth and Durbin announce screening committee to fill Castillo vacancy

United States Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Dubrin have announced the formation of a screening committee to review applications from persons interested in filling the vacancy left by Judge Rubén Castillo's pending retirement from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

To be considered, applicants will have to complete a questionnaire, and submit a résumé, by email, to applications@durbin.senate.gov, by no later than 5:00 p.m. (Central Time) on Wednesday, October 2, 2019. The applicant's résumé, completed questionnaire, and any attachments to the questionnaire should be incorporated, if possible, into a single PDF document.

The Senators' screening committee will be chaired by retired U.S. District Judge David Coar. Other members of the screening committee are are Alejandro Caffarelli, Michael Chu, Edward Feldman, Betty Jang, Monica Llorente, Laurie Mikva, Carlina Tapia-Ruano, Zaldwaynaka (“Z”) Scott, and Diana White.

The Senators' press release states, "The application questionnaire is nearly identical to those used by the Senate Judiciary Committee and will help provide insight into candidates’ backgrounds and qualifications. The screening committee will review candidates and advise the Senators, who will make recommendations on potential nominees to the President. Once the President submits a nomination to the U.S. Senate, the nominee will be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Senator Durbin is a member, and will receive a vote in the Committee. The approval of both home state Senators is traditionally required for the Senate Judiciary Committee to take up and consider a judicial nominee. If a nomination is approved by the Judiciary Committee, the nomination will be sent to the full Senate for consideration."