The U.S. Senate voted and approved the first Latina to serve on the country's Court of Appeals for the Federal, but one other Latino nominee still awaits his confirmation vote amidst political gridlock.

Attorney Kara Farnandez Stoll and Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo, who currently serves for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, were nominated by President Barack Obama last November, but the nominees encountered a lengthy nomination process in the Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Stoll in April, which would allow the full Senate to officially vote on her confirmation. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., praised Stoll's work ahead of her vote. He stated, "She is superbly qualified, and once confirmed, she will be the first woman of color to serve on the Federal Circuit. She has the strong endorsement of the nonpartisan Hispanic National Bar Association as well as from the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association."

Leahy criticized Republicans for disrupting the nomination process, adding, "The Republican majority's treatment of Ms. Farnandez Stoll's nomination is more pattern than aberration...this glacial pace of confirmations is a dereliction of the Senate's constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on judicial nominees. Many are concerned that such treatment threatens the functioning of our independent judiciary."

The Senate unanimously approved Stoll's nomination with 95-0 on July 7. Five senators were not voting, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Restrepo, however, waited longer for the Judiciary Committee's approval, which came on through unanimous vote on Thursday. Obama nominated him to fill an emergency vacant seat on the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

"The Senate Judiciary Committee actually acted faster than I thought it might and than it did on Kara Stoll...She waited six weeks after her hearing for an Judiciary Committee vote, and Restrepo waited four [weeks]," said Carl Tobias, law professor at the University of Richmond. "I was not surprised by the [unanimous] vote because Restrepo is a very experienced, consensus nominee with strong support of the two Pennsylvania senators."

Tobias said he's certain Restrepo's Senate confirmation vote will occur this year and will "cautiously optimistic" that a vote could occur sooner if Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., asks the Republican leadership to promptly schedule the vote.

"If Judge [Thomas] Hardiman could be confirmed just one week after his committee vote in 2007, why can't Judge Restrepo get his vote this month? This is exactly the kind of situation where having a supportive home state senator in the majority party can really make a difference ... assuming that senator is actually willing to help," said Paul Gordon, senior legislative counsel for People For the American Way (PFAW), in a statement to Latin Post.

As Gordon noted, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is responsible to schedule the confirmation vote. In a PFAW blog post, Gordon also agreed that Toomey could provide the leverage to expedite Restrepo's vote.

Toomey has been criticized for delaying Restrepo's nomination process. Toomey had praised Obama's nomination of Restrepo last November, but he waited several months to send his approval to the Judiciary Committee. Toomey stated he was waiting until the Judiciary Committee completed its background check on Restrepo, even though the he also received a background check in 2013 during the nomination process for the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.