Cloture

By Nicole Flatow

Following Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s bold move to file cloture petitions on 17 judicial nominees at once, Senate leaders reached a deal late Wednesday to hold votes on 14 judicial nominees over the next few months.

Earlier on Wednesday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had blasted Reid’s move to force votes on the nominees as a “gimmick,” dismissing allegations that Senate Republicans have obstructed judicial nominations, even though Obama nominees have, on average, waited four times longer for a vote than Bush nominees for a confirmation vote.

Under the deal, the Senate will hold votes on 12 federal district court judges and two circuit court judges between now and May 7, with votes on a few nominees held each week, Roll Call reports. 

But the deal leaves out eight other nominees who are ready for an immediate Senate vote, and does not consider those additional nominees that will reach the Senate floor over the next two months.

 “The deal Senator Reid reached today with the Republicans who were obstructing any and all action is certainly a step in the right direction,” said American Constitution Society President Caroline Fredrickson. “Of course, the persistently high rate of vacancies on our courts continues – and with one in 10 seats still empty, litigants whose safety, security and livelihoods are on the line will continue to wait years for a resolution in court.”

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed two judicial nominees to federal district court seats considered judicial emergencies. Mary Phillips was confirmed 95-2 to the Western District of Missouri and Thomas Rice was confirmed to the Eastern District of Washington by a vote of 93-4. But the Senate left behind 18 others who were ripe for an immediate up-or-down vote. “A mere two confirmation votes are disgracefully less than what is needed to clear the backlog and restore a functioning court system to the American people,” People for the American Way notes on its blog. “It isn't even enough to make up for the anticipated four nominations that the Judiciary Committee will likely advance to the floor later this week, resulting in a net increase in the backlog.”

As expected, the Senate Judiciary Committee did approve four more district court nominees on Thursday, bringing the total number of nominees awaiting a vote by the full Senate to 22.

The Washington Post reports that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning an effort to force up-or-down voteson a bundle of nominees. With 18 nominations currently pending on the floor, the newspaper suggests that Reid might try to push most if not all of them.