Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Senators on Friday brokered an agreement to take up five judicial nominees after the Senate returns from its Thanksgiving break.

The agreement may indicate that President Barack Obama is attempting to push through some more judicial nominees before the end of the year. The Senate typically slows activity on nominations during an election year.

Obama's judicial confirmation rate has lagged that of his predecessor, George Bush, in his first term.

"I think there's some movement," said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. "I think that's promising."

The Senate will take up the nomination of U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney to be a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, November 28, according to a Senate schedule posted on the Senate Democrats' offical website on Friday. Droney was nominated in May and is a former U.S. attorney in Connecticut.

On or after December 5, the Senate will consider four district court nominees, including two for slots on the Southern District of New York, where vacancies earlier this year were at the highest since the early 1990s.

The two nominees being considered for the Southern District court are Edgardo Ramos, currently a partner at law firm Day Pitney, and Andrew Carter, currently a U.S. magistrate judge in Brooklyn.

The two others to be considered for district court positions are James Gilstrap, for the Eastern District of Texas, and Dana Christensen, for the District of Montana.

There are currently 23 nominees who have been approved by the Senate judiciary committee and are awaiting floor votes. There are about 80 vacancies in the federal courts.

(Reporting by Carlyn Kolker)

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