This bill amends existing law (RCW 2.06.080, 43.06.092, and 43.06.094) to change the appointment and confirmation process for gubernatorial appointees. It requires that gubernatorial appointments to vacancies on the court of appeals be subject to confirmation by the Washington State Senate, sets timing rules for when the Senate must vote (before adjournment of a regular session if appointed during that session, or at the earlier of a special session convened for that purpose or the next regular session if appointed while the legislature is not in session), and establishes a confirmation threshold of an affirmative vote by at least two-thirds of all members elected to the Senate. A confirmed appointee serves until the election and qualification of a judge at the next succeeding general election, and the elected judge serves the remainder of the unexpired term. A judicial appointee rejected by the Senate may not be reappointed to the same office for at least two calendar years from the date of the Senate vote. The bill also modifies general gubernatorial appointment procedures: except for judicial vacancies under RCW 2.06.080, appointees who are subject to Senate confirmation continue to serve unless rejected by the Senate; a rejected nonjudicial appointee may not be reappointed to the same position for one year from termination of service. It further requires that any person appointed to fill an unexpired term of a position subject to Senate confirmation must also be confirmed, and it limits the governor’s ability to remove appointees who are subject to confirmation (except those who serve at the governor’s pleasure and except judicial vacancies under RCW 2.06.080) by prohibiting removal without cause prior to confirmation except with the Senate’s consent under Senate rules. Affected parties include the Governor (appointing and removal authority), the Washington State Senate (confirmation votes and consent for certain removals), and appointees to judicial vacancies and other positions subject to confirmation. The bill is House Bill 1929 (69th Legislature, 2025 Regular Session) and was referred to the Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary. Some statutory context is unclear from the provided text: the phrase "judge of the court" appears without explicit identification of which court within the quoted statutory language (the bill title references the court of appeals but the statutory text here uses "the court"), the precise count of "all members elected to the senate" for calculating the two-thirds threshold is not stated, and no surrounding statutory definitions or cross-references beyond the cited RCWs are included.

If enacted, the governor would no longer be able to install judges to the court of appeals without a supermajority Senate vote; those nominees must get the affirmative support of two-thirds of elected senators and the Senate must act within specific session timing or at the next session. That makes it more likely vacancies stay subject to political review, could slow how quickly new judges are settled in, and prevents a rejected nominee from being reappointed to the same seat for two years, while confirmed appointees would serve only until the next general election. The biggest impacts fall on the governor (fewer unilateral appointment options, new limits on reappointments and more constraints on removing pending appointees), the state Senate (new, time-sensitive confirmation responsibilities and greater power to block appointments), and prospective appointees to the court of appeals (added hurdle, potential delay, and a two-year bar on reappointment if rejected). The text does not make clear which specific court phrase like "the court" refers to in one place, nor does it state the exact number that equals two-thirds of the Senate membership, so some timing and counting details remain uncertain.