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U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson announced Friday that they’d renewed their agreement establishing the Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission to provide recommendations for Congress on nominations for U.S. attorneys and federal judgeships. 

There are currently vacancies for U.S. attorneys in both the eastern and western districts of the state and U.S. Circuit Court Judge Diane Sykes announced she will take senior status, a form of semi-retirement, on Oct. 1, which will require the senators to offer potential nominees for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. 

The commitment to the nominating commission comes as President Donald Trump and Republicans attack the federal judiciary over decisions by judges across the country to limit the president’s authority. 

Both senators said they were confident the commission will find people who can work impartially. 

“I am proud to work with Senator Johnson this Congress to select qualified, impartial candidates to serve our state and faithfully apply the law,” Baldwin said in a statement. “I have full confidence our bipartisan nominating commission will do its job well of rigorously vetting and selecting candidates with the character, expertise, and experience required to fairly deliver justice for our constituents.” 

In his statement, Johnson said the nominating commission must concentrate “on finding individuals who will apply the law and not alter it to fit their ideological or policy preferences.” 

But late last month, Johnson said he supported an effort from U.S. House Republicans, supported by Wisconsin’s GOP representatives, that would limit the ability of federal district judges to impose nationwide injunctions on executive actions. Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the judiciary was “overstepping its constitutional bounds” by declaring Trump’s actions unconstitutional. 

“They’ve got to discipline, they’ve got to put some guardrails around this,” Johnson said. “This is getting completely out of control.”