The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy invites you to attend:

The Filibuster and the Pace of Judicial Confirmations

While it has been around for a long time, the filibuster has been used with increasing frequency in recent years. The filibuster, or the threat of a filibuster, has been used to stop a wide variety of legislative initiatives. The filibuster is also a potent tool that a minority party may use to stop or stall presidential nominations, both for executive department positions and for the federal judiciary. The effect of the filibuster on judicial nominations has been pronounced: As of January 5, 2010, only thirteen judges had been confirmed in the 111th Congress. During the same period of the 107th Congress, President George W. Bush's first year, twenty-eight judges were confirmed. The fact that President Obama has enjoyed overwhelming majorities in the Senate makes this difference all the more striking.

What is the current status of the filibuster? Where did it come from, and what are its future prospects? What other Senate rules are responsible for slowing down the confirmation process? What are the distinctions between the use of the filibuster in the nominations context and elsewhere? A panel of experts discussed these questions and more.

This program was the second in a new ACS series, The Future of the Courts: Nominations, Confirmations, and the Pursuit of Justice. This series of programs features experts on the courts examining issues such as the importance of the courts, the status of judicial vacancies, and the confirmation process.

The panel discussion featured:

• Moderator, Sarah Binder, Professor of Political Science at George Washington University and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
• Makan Delrahim, Shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP and former Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-Chairman Orrin Hatch
• Martin Paone, Executive Vice President of Prime Policy Group and former Democratic Secretary in the United States Senate
• Matthew Yglesias, Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund

Tuesday, March 9, 2010
12:00 - 2:00 pm
The National Press Club, Holeman Lounge
529 14th Street, NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045