ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

On April 25, Senator Barbara Boxer of California made a speech, in which she said this about the number of judges that Bush has had confirmed:

I have to tell you, 205 to 10, you should be smiling, not frowning, not addressing people and saying how terrible you are doing. You should be happy. It is a heck of a lot better than a lot of Democratic Presidents have done. You should be happy.

It seems that the filibusterers cannot pass up an opportunity to twist the facts, by including district court judges together with the more powerful circuit court judges. Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky set the record straight on April 26:

President Bush’s nominees to the circuit courts have the lowest confirmation rate since the Roosevelt administration at 69%. . . . The DC Circuit is the most important, and for that court, only 33% of President Bush’s nominees have been confirmed.

I hadn't seen the D.C. Circuit number before, but it's hardly surprising, and it's hardly something that Sen. Boxer is frowning about.