Jeffrey Beckham withdraws nomination for the Superior Court.

Former state budget director Jeffrey Beckham applied his counting skills to his prospects on the Judiciary Committee and found insufficient yes votes to advance his nomination.

He withdrew his nomination Tuesday afternoon, Daily Ructions has learned, a reminder it is easier to get things done when you are overseeing $26 billion in state spending than when hoping to don a robe largely on your own.

Beckham confronted his absence of experience practicing law and appearing in court at his Thursday confirmation hearing. He told committee members that his “skillset” developed during decades in state government’s sprawling bureaucracy would see him through. Several days of speaking to committee members appeared to yield little support.

Beckham worked in the Office of the Legislative Commissioner early in his career and joined the executive branch under the Rell administration. He spent the Malloy years at the Department of Administrative Services, returning to the Office of Policy and Management under Governor Ned Lamont. Beckham rose to the top job in the agency upon the departure of Melissa McCaw in the aftermath of a corruption scandal involving her deputy and close friend, Kostantinos Diamantas, who is currently awaiting the start of his second bribery trial. The first, involving the state’s school construction financing program, concluded last summer with his conviction on 21 counts.

Beckham is the second Lamont nominee to withdraw a nomination to become a judge in two days. On Monday, Republican John Shaban withdrew his nomination in the aftermath of a car-crash appearance before the committee and the appearance of a police report detailing a 2019 domestic incident that was at considerable variance with Shaban’s testimony.

Published April 7, 2026.