How does someone become a federal judge?
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution authorizes the President to nominate candidates for the federal judiciary, and instructs the Senate to provide “advice and consent” in order for the nominee to be confirmed. In practice, this means that the President, usually with input from within the White House and from the various states from which the judges come, chooses nominees. By tradition, the White House also consults with the senators from a potential nominee’s home state before formally announcing the nomination, although this does not always happen.
