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Home > Blog > All > senate obstruction

senate obstruction

  • February 29, 2012

    ABA President, Senate Dems Emphasize Urgent Need for Action on Judicial Nominees

    by Nicole Flatow

    Adding to the calls this week from eight Senate Democrats to hold immediate up-or-down votes on the long-pending judicial nominees, American Bar Association President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III is urging ABA members to ratchet up the pressure on judicial nominations.

    “Washington’s partisan gridlock has stymied not just the policy process, but also the responsibility of the Senate to give advice and consent in the nomination process,” Robinson said. “Our federal court system —indispensable to the nation’s economy and the justice and freedoms we cherish — is being quietly undermined by needless deadlock.”

    A persistently high rate of judicial vacancies is not without consequence, he explains. It causes backlogs. And backlogs are “bad for business," "unfair to individuals," and slow "government enforcement actions, which ultimately costs taxpayers money.”

    In the Central District of Illinois, the chief judge, Jim Holderman, just recently sent a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin, imploring him to do everything in his power to move forward two controversial nominees in his district, considered a judicial emergency.

    “The Bottom Line,” said Durbin in his floor statement Tuesday, is that “judicial nominees with no controversy, widespread bipartisan approval, are being held up on the Senate calendar and not approved.”

    “It was not so long ago that liberals and conservatives could easily win confirmation as long as they were well qualified, fair-minded, and had judicial temperament,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein in her floor statement. She continues:

    It may even surprise some that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed by a vote of 96 to 3, and Justice Antonin Scalia was confirmed 98 to 0.  That was a different time. 

    Today partisanship has stalled even the most uncontroversial judicial appointments. Senate Republicans allowed no nominees to be confirmed at the end of the last session and have allowed only five so far this year. In this environment even those reported out of committee by voice vote without any controversy are unable to receive a floor vote for many months if they ever receive one at all. 

    She provides a recent example from her home state:

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    Tags:
    Federal judicial selection, Other courts, Judicial Nominations, American Bar Association, senate obstruction
  • February 28, 2012

    Senate Dems to Colleagues: Only We Can Solve Judicial Vacancy Crisis

    by Nicole Flatow

    Senate Democrats took to the floor on Tuesday to express their exasperation over the continuing obstruction of judicial nominees who have broad bipartisan support.

    “We have a crisis on our third and independent branch of government and it is one that only we in the Senate can solve,” Sen. Charles Schumer said.

    The highlights from his statement and those of Sens. Dick Durbin [pictured], Patrick Leahy, Chris Coons and Dianne Feinstein are featured in a video montage.

    “The bottom line,” said Durbin. “Judicial nominees with no controversy, widespread bipartisan approval, are being held up on the Senate calendar and not approved.”

    Also speaking on the subject today were Sens. Tom Udall and Amy Klobuchar.

    Explained Klobuchar:

    There are many problems facing our country that do not have simple solutions. There are many problems for which the two parties have vastly different solutions. But in this case with judicial vacancies, there is only one solution, and it is well within our grasp given that so many of these judges were noncontroversial. Mr. President, this is the solution. It’s two words: Let’s vote.

    Watch the video montage here, and visit JudicialNominations.org to learn more and follow developments. 

    Tags:
    Federal judicial selection, Other courts, Judicial Nominations, senate obstruction
  • February 24, 2012

    This Week on JudicialNominations.org

    Just before the Senate went into its Presidents Day recess, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that the chamber would take up the confirmation vote for Margo Kitsy Brodie to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York when they returned this coming Monday. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved her confirmation in October. Monday will mark the 265th day since her nominations.
     
    Before leaving the floor, Reid lamented the Republican obstruction of judicial nominations. Reid assured the Senate that the coming work period would focus on judges and continued, “We will have the fight on the judges ourselves because they are recommendations we make to the President. But these are the President's nominations and he should have the right to have these people working in his administration.” There are currently 21 confirmations waiting for a floor vote, 16 of which received unanimous committee support.
     
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    Tags:
    Federal judicial selection, Judicial Nominations, recess appointments, senate obstruction
  • February 17, 2012

    This Week on JudicialNominations.org

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) overcame a filibuster of Adalberto Jose Jordán to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and secured his confirmation by a vote of 94-5. Reid had filed a motion to invoke cloture and force a vote on his nomination, and senators approved the motion 89-5. But Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), seeking to gain leverage for an unrelated proposal to cut off aid to Egypt until American detainees are released, exploited a procedural rule and refused to consent to a vote before the permitted 30 hours for “debate” had lapsed. One hundred and ninety seven days elapsed between his nomination and confirmation.
     
    Just after the vote that finally confirmed Jordán, Reid filed a motion to invoke cloture on another nominee, federal prosecutor Jesse Furman, to be a judge on the Southern District of New York. Before the vote to invoke cloture, Furman opponents dropped their opposition and permitted an up-or-down vote. His nomination was confirmed 62-34. When in committee, Furman’s confirmation received unanimous support from all members, both Democrats and Republicans. Among the 34 senators to vote against him on the Senate floor were Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), all Senate Judiciary Committee members who had previously not opposed his confirmation.
     
    Following the vote, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, “I commend the Majority Leader for pressing forward to obtain a vote on the nomination of Jesse Furman, finally bringing to an end the 5-month Republican filibuster of this nomination. It should not have taken five months and the filing of a cloture petition to secure a vote on this superbly qualified, consensus nominee.” 
     
    The Senate Judiciary Committee also held a hearing Wednesday for one circuit court and three district court nominees. The next day, the committee held over the nomination of one circuit court nominee and reported out four district court nominees, with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) voting in the negative on each.
     
    Finally, the president continues to nominate federal judges, especially those who would fill judicial emergencies. He nominated Jill A. Pryor, an Atlanta-based litigator, to fill a judicial emergency on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In January, Georgia Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss indicated that they support her nomination to the federal judiciary. He also nominated Elissa F. Cadish to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, Paul William Grimm to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and Mark E. Walker to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
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    Tags:
    Federal judicial selection, Judicial Nominations, Cloture, filibuster, senate obstruction
  • February 17, 2012

    Majority Leader Ramps Up Effort to Force Votes on Judicial Nominees

    by Nicole Flatow

    With the election year underway and 103 current and future vacancies plaguing the federal courts, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is making headway in an aggressive push to force votes on long-pending judicial nominees.

    On Wednesday, he successfully pushed through the nomination of Adalberto Jose Jordán to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, even as Sen. Rand Paul forced the 30 hours of debate to elapse before the final vote to confirm Jordán 94-5.

    And on Thursday night, Reid was successful in securing confirmation of another nominee, Jesse Furman, to the Southern District of New York. Reid filed a motion to invoke cloture on his nomination Wednesday, but the Senate opted not to vote on the cloture motion, and to simply hold an up-or-down vote.

    Both Jordán and Furman are consensus nominees -- both were approved by the Judiciary Committee with absolutely no opposition, and both have been ripe for an immediate vote since before the Senate left for the winter recess.

    They are just two examples of the many highly qualified consensus nominees who have been pending for months on the Senate calendar.

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    Tags:
    Access to Justice, Federal judicial selection, Other courts, Judicial Nominations, Separation of Powers and Federalism, Cloture, Harry Reid, Sen. Patrick Leahy, senate obstruction, the filibuster
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