Congratulations to Judge Andre Davis, who was confirmed by the United States Senate today for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. As the NYT Caucus blog points out, Judge Davis is filling a seat vacated by the judge for whom he clerked, Judge Francis Murnaghan Jr., who died in 2000. Davis was first nominated for the seat in 2000 at the tail end of the Clinton years, but he was not confirmed. The seat remained open for both terms of George W. Bush: Bush nominated Claude Allen for the seat and then Rod Rosenstein, but neither were confirmed (the former fortunately so, the latter unfortunately so). President Obama nominated Davis for the seat back in April.