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Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey seek input on Mass. federal judge vacancies

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey announced Tuesday that the Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Judicial Nominations will re-convene to consider applications for two vacancies on the federal bench in the Commonwealth. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff/File

So, you wanna be a federal judge in the Bay State?

There’s a committee for that, and a looming application deadline.

US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey announced Tuesday that the Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Judicial Nominations will re-convene to consider applications for two vacancies on the federal bench in the Commonwealth.

Candidates must submit their applications by Aug. 18 to the panel, which was formed in 2013.

The committee, chaired by former US District Court Judge Nancy Gertner, is made up of prominent attorneys and academics and will recommend nominees to the state’s two senators. The lawmakers will then recommend those candidates to President Trump for nomination.

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It remains unclear whether Trump will heed the recommendations of Warren and Markey, two Democrats who have emerged as fierce critics of the controversial Republican president.

Warren’s office said in a statement that Elissa Flynn-Poppey, who served as deputy legal counsel to former Governor Mitt Romney, is joining the 12-person committee.

Romney was a leading Republican critic of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump fired back, saying during the heat of the campaign that Romney “choked” as the party’s nominee for the White House in 2012.

“I’m glad to join Senator Markey in reconvening the Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Judicial Nominations, and I am very pleased to welcome Elissa Flynn-Poppey to the committee. Elissa brings valuable expertise to this bipartisan process,” Warren said in a statement.

Flynn-Poppey also drew praise from Governor Charlie Baker, Markey, and Martin W. Healy of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

“Elissa Flynn-Poppey is an accomplished attorney with an established career of serving the public in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Baker said in the statement from Warren’s office.

Healy, in the same release, hailed Flynn-Poppey as “a prominent practitioner who has the ear of the state’s top political leaders due to her outstanding legal skills and unique political acumen.”

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And Markey thanked all members of the committee for their work in considering applications.

“Their participation is a critical part of the nomination process and will help ensure judicial vacancies are filled efficiently and by qualified individuals who hold the esteem and respect of peers, colleagues and their communities,” Markey said.

The 12 committee members include attorneys Pamela Berman; Jack Corrigan; Marianne LeBlanc; Willard P. Ogburn; Walter Prince; Sue Reid; and Georgia Katsoulomitis. Gertner, Flynn-Poppey, BC Law professor Mary Sarah Bilder, Harvard Law professor Andrew Kaufman, and attorney Mike Mone of the state Bar Association will round out the panel.


Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.