His nomination to a life-tenure, federal district court judgeship during 2010 and 2011 ran aground amid opposition from Republican senators, who objected to moving forward with a United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on his nomination after what were reported to be "insurmountable concerns" by Republicans over matters raised during Day's background investigation.

NPR commented on the delay in an August 4, 2011 article, stating that "Some of the longest waiting nominees, Louis B. Butler of Wisconsin, Charles Bernard Day of Maryland and Edward C. DuMont of Washington happen to be black or openly gay".

[1] Those concerns, which the spokeswoman declined to elaborate on, were what prompted Republican senators to block a committee hearing on Day.

The spokeswoman also told the Blog of Legal Times that Day "is aware of those problems and is free to share that information if he so desires.

"Judge Day is an extraordinary jurist, greatly respected by the Maryland legal community," the statement read.