More than a year has passed since President Barack Obama nominated Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo to serve the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and while the Senate has steadily schedule confirmation votes, the Latino judge is still not on the calendar.

Last week, the Senate scheduled a judicial vote for Travis Randall McDonough for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, despite Obama nominating him eight days after Restrepo's Nov. 12, 2014, announcement. With Restrepo's confirmation still not scheduled, he risks waiting further until the New Year as the Senate recess nears.

"By skipping over Judge Restrepo, Senate Republicans threaten not to hold a confirmation vote by the end of the year, meaning that the reset button could be hit on his confirmation. If they do that, he'd have to be re-nominated and re-processed by the Judiciary Committee, even though Republicans and Democrats alike have voiced only support for Judge Restrepo," said Paul Gordon, senior legislative counsel for People for the American Way.

In November 2014, Obama nominated Restrepo to fill an emergency vacant seat. Since June 2013, Restrepo has been serving as the U.S. District Judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the second Latino judge ever to serve on the Third Circuit and the first one from Pennsylvania.

Last July, Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Restrepo, which advanced him to the full Senate vote. Restrepo has received the support from Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Patrick Toomey since Obama's 2014 announcement. But Toomney has been criticized for delaying the confirmation process. Toomey endorsed the nominee, but waited for the standard background check on Restrepo to be completed before allowing the Judiciary Committee's vote, even though the judge had previously received a background check in 2013 during the nomination process for the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The focus has since shifted to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to schedule Restrepo's vote.

Philadelphia's The Inquirer reported Toomey has written to McConnell to expedite Restrepo's confirmation vote. Toomey wrote that while his colleagues may have some "heartfelt concerns," he believes Restrepo is an "excellent, qualified nominee" and "prompt action is warranted."

According to The Legal Intelligencer, a spokesman for McConnell, Don Stewart, said the Senate votes on district court nominees in between votes for circuit court nominees. Stewart said, "We're certainly aware of the Restrepo nomination as Sen. Toomey regularly raises it with the leader and is pushing for a vote."

The American Bar Association (ABA) sent a letter to McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, to schedule the confirmation votes for the 15 judicial nominees, noting the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has listed nine court seats as judicial emergencies.

"In some of our courts with judicial emergencies, litigants have to put their businesses or private lives on hold indefinitely while waiting for their day in court. This is unnecessary and unfair. Action on the 15 pending nominees has proceeded slowly to date. Most of them received their nominations over 200 days ago and had to wait over 4 months to be voted out of committee without objection," wrote ABA President Paulette Brown.

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