NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Senate on Monday approved six nominees to fill judicial vacancies, addressing a backlog of 27 judicial nominees that were pending before the chamber. 

Senate Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on September 26 to vote on up to ten judicial nominees in the coming weeks. In addition to the six who received votes yesterday, the Senate will vote on four others on or after October 11.

Before Monday's vote, the chamber had voted on three nominees since it returned from its summer recess. It approved Bernice Donald for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, confirmed John Ross to be a district court judge in Missouri and Timothy Cain as a district court judge in South Carolina There are more than 90 vacancies for judges in the federal court system.

President Barack Obama, whose nominees to fill those vacancies must be approved Senate, has been less successful than his predecessor in shepherding his choices through the chamber.

The six nominees were confirmed without controversy on Monday. The Senate confirmed Henry Floyd to the Fourth CircuitCourt of Appeals by a vote of 96 to 0. Floyd had served as a federal district court judge in South Carolina and was appointed by President George W. Bush. Five district court nominees, William Kuntz for the EasternDistrict of New York, Nannette Brown for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Nancy Torresen for the Eastern District of Maine, Marina Marmolejo for the Southern District of Texas, and Jennifer Zipps for the District of Arizona, were approved by voice vote on Monday. Zipps will fill the vacancy created after the fatal shooting of U.S. District Judge John Roll in January.

(Reporting by Carlyn Kolker)

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