Following a successful confirmation hearing, Lucy Koh is one step closer to becoming the first female Korean-American judge on an appellate court.

Koh was nominated by President Barack Obama February for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the busiest appellate court in the U.S. with 29 judges and more than 11,000 cases heard each year.

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Michael McConnell, a professor at Stanford Law School, said Koh could be in limbo for much longer.

“It’s very unusual for court of appeals nominees to be confirmed after March of an election year,” McConnell told the Northern California Record.

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Ultimately, McConnell said, whether or not Koh is confirmed will be a question politics rather than one of her fit for the job.

“She won’t be confirmed unless Republicans who think it’s in their interest to confirm a candidate nominated by a Democratic president … that sometimes happens but not often,” McConnell said.

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McConnell said it was unusual for Koh to have a hearing this late in the election cycle, and for her hearing to occur this quickly after nomination, adding that previous appellate court nominees have waited years for their hearing after being nominated.

“And it seems that with every new president things get worse than before,” McConnell said.