With the Senate convening only for pro forma sessions this week, neither the full Senate nor the Senate Judiciary Committee officially met to discuss judicial nominations.
However, this did not stop Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) from revealing this week that he has
privately warned his Republican colleagues not to block President Obama’s nominees, for fear that Democrats will reciprocate during a Republican presidency, Roll Call reports. “[T]he president deserves to have his nominee unless there is a compelling reason not to,” McCain said.
This Monday, the Senate will vote on the president’s nomination of Stephen A. Higginson to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit. Higginson was nominated in May and the Senate Judiciary Committee voted him out in July unopposed by a voice vote. The seat for which he has been nominated has been vacant since September of last year.
The Washington Post reports that President Obama has asked the American Bar Association to evaluate the credentials of Debo Patrick Adegbile, the director of litigation for the NAACP LDF, to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Currently, there are three vacancies on the circuit.
The Latest from “In the News”
- “Charles Schumer Makes Case for Gay Judges,” from The Advocate
- “Judicial branch lacks gender diversity,” from The Gazette
- “Schumer Bucks Far Right Sneak Attack on Lesbian Judge,” from Gay City News
The Latest from “Recommended Readings”
- “Why won’t progressives fight for federal judges?” from Slate
- “The Next D.C. Circuit Nominee,” from National Review
- “Republican Candidates Want the Federal Judiciary to Be More Like American Idol,” from The Huffington Post
- Sen. Wyden on Search for Judicial Nominees
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