The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit announced Saturday that Chief Judge Merrick Garland recused himself from handling ethics complaints filed against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to Buzzfeed.

Buzzfeed reports that the statement does not give an explanation for why Garland decided to recuse himself nor does it contain an update for the status of the Kavanaugh ethics complaints. Garland’s nomination for the Supreme Court in 2016 failed after Republicans refused to act on any Obama nominee.

NEW: The DC Circuit released a statement acknowledging the receipt of complaints about Kavanaugh and his Senate testimony. It doesn't say what's happening with them. *Notable*: It's from Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson – Chief Judge Merrick Garland "disqualified" per court rules pic.twitter.com/0yvIraS8lk — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) October 6, 2018

Since Kavanaugh’s Senate testimony and his response to allegations of sexual misconduct, the current court of the Supreme Court nominee received multiple ethics complaints filed against him.

Although the chief judge of the circuit typically handles ethics cases, they have the option to recuse themselves if they find that the “circumstances warrant disqualification” under the federal judiciary’s rules.