President Barack Obama nominated Krauthamer on July 11, 2011, to a 15-year term as an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to the seat vacated by John Henry Bayly, Jr. On November 8, 2011, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing on his nomination and on the following day, November 9, 2011, the Committee reported his nomination favorably to the senate floor.