ConfirmThem

Sid C
Why do we have a judiciary committee and what are the Republicans doing to get ANY nominee to the Senate floor? Even when they finally schedule a nominee for the business meetings, they are postponed ad nausea. When are the Repubs going to start staging walkouts and closing off ALL hearings after the Senate has been in session for two hours?? There are a myriad of things that they can do to gum up the works. Get in front of the cameras and shove Chuckie Schumer et al out of the way and hold these Democrats feet to the fire.
Stopping all action would not be much different than what is now occurring. The entire Senate has confirmed exactly ONE person from the executive calendar this entire year outside of the military.
These Republicans are really pathetic with only a one vote deficit. What will it be like next year when they are 6 or 7 seats down? Oh brother.

Blocking hearings for partisan reasons about gibberish is the way to destroy the judiciary.

Sid C
Those clowns ARE destroying the judiciary--no sane top lawyer would be willing to put up with this process. Only the rogues and power hungry will be available for this pathetic gauntlet.

February Nominee Report
As of 2/29/08

As a reference aid for other readers and posters on this site, I compile a monthly summary of progress on Article III federal judicial nominations. Following are the figures for February:

Circuit Confirmations: 0
District Confirmations: 0
Circuit Nominees Reported by SJC: 0
District Nominees Reported by SJC: 0
Circuit Nominees had Hearings: 1 (Haynes on 2/21)
District Nominees had Hearings: 6
No. of Judicial Nomination Hearings: 2 (2/12, 2/21)
Circuit Nominations: 0
District Nominations: 2 (Lawrence, Connolly)
Total Nominees Pending on 2/29: 30 (10 CCA, 20 DJ)
Nominees in Committee with hearing: 8 (2 CCA: Keisler, Haynes, 6 DJ)
Nominees on Executive Calendar on 2/29: 0
New Vacancies: 3 (3 DJ: Pennsylvania-East)
Total Vacancies on 2/29: 48 (14 CCA, 34 DJ)
Total Vacancies on 1/31 45 (14 CCA, 31 DJ)
Change in Vacancies in January: +3

Outlook for March: No confirmations likely this month. No Circuit confirmation for sure. Possibly (though unlikely) 1 or 2 District confirmations in week of March 10-14, for form’s sake if nothing else. 2 District nominees (Hall, Miller) will probably be voted out of SJC and placed on the Executive Calendar. The other 4 will be held until April or blocked entirely. Looks like Haynes’ Committee vote will be pushed into April. So Pratter hearing won’t be until at least mid-April.

Big Question: Will the Democrat’s hold even a District Judge Hearing this month? No hearing is scheduled this week and only one more week remains before the 2-week Easter recess March 15-30.

OUTLOOK for 2008: Present CCA Nominees: 3 or 4 confirmations seem most likely.

Haynes (5th): Hearing held on 2/21. Very likely to be confirmed sometime in April.
Pratter (3rd): Slam dunk whenever. Hearing probable in late April. Confirmation likely in late May. Does that mean June?
4th Circuit: Top priority. 1 out of 5 confirmations is the most feasible at this point. 2 would be excellent but very unlikely.
D.C. Circuit: Keisler (DC): Seems improbable, unless the purported “deal” can be consummated. A top priority, nevertheless.
Kehledge and Murphy (6th): Not worth discussing (as usual)
Smith (1st) Very low priority
Prospective 9th Cir. nominee: Not worth pursuing at all. A premature nomination might get in the way of Keisler and 4th Circuit nominee.
Stone (3rd): Extremely unlikely.
Other D.C. vacancy (transferred to 9th): not eligible for nomination until January 21, 2009.

BOTTOM LINE: 3-4 Circuit confirmations still seem most likely this year. A District Nominee slowdown may now be in progress.

[For reference, my December 2007 Nominee Report appeared in the thread “McCain Wins Florida” on January 30th. The January 2008 Report appeared as post #3 on the thread “Worthy Nominees” on February 11th.]

So depressing when you actually see the numbers! :(

True, but we have to face those depressing numbers that define the dismal present situation. They represent the definitive results of the GOP's suicidal idiocy in 2003-2006. The only viable course now is to elect McCain in November, or the judiciary will lurch in a big way towards lawless liberal activism.

"Partisan and narrow ideological efforts to impose political litmus tests on judicial nominees and to shut down the judiciary must stop."

"It will be easy to monitor our progress. Any week in which the Senate does not confirm three judges is a week in which the Senate is failing to address the vacancy crisis. Any fortnight in which we have gone without a judicial confirmation hearing marks two weeks in which the Senate is falling farther behind."

"I hope that this new year will bring the realization by those who have started down this destructive path of attacking the judiciary and stalling the confirmation of qualified nominees to the Federal bench that those efforts do not serve the national interest. I hope that we can remove these important matters from partisan and ideological politics. I hope that our actions today will move us forward in the interest of the fair administration of justice."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/03/AR200803...

"The Senate on Monday confirmed a federal judge from Chicago as Attorney General Michael Mukasey's second-in-command, restoring the top tier of a Justice Department that had lost many of its officials to a scandal over the firings of nine federal prosecutors.

The unanimous vote installed Mark R. Filip, 41, after a season of partisan wrangling over President Bush's nominees.

A conversation earlier in the day between White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., led to Filip's confirmation, according to a Senate Democratic aide. The two pledged to make progress on stalled nominations, said the official, who requested anonymity because the details were private.

"We're extremely pleased that Judge Filip was confirmed today," said White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore, saying the two sides reached an understanding to work on a procedural change that might clear the way for stalled nominations.

"We look forward to working constructively with the Senate majority leader to ensure that all Republican and Democratic nominees receive fair consideration and swift confirmation," she said."

They were all made by Pat Leahy after Clinton's 1998 State of the Union address.
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/199801/980128.html

You can find tons like this if you look at Leahy's press releases of 1998-2000.
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/specter-presses-leahy-on-judges-2008...

"Specter sent a lengthy letter to Leahy on Friday urging him to schedule “prompt action on nominees,” arguing that “President Bush is even farther behind President Clinton in total confirmations when contrasting their entire terms.”

Specter stated that the Senate has confirmed only 57 of Bush’s circuit court nominees and 237 of his district court selections. Clinton saw 65 of his circuit court nominees and 305 district picks confirmed, according to the letter.

“[T]here must be confirmations or at least up-or-down votes on 9 additional circuit court and 23 district court judges to equal President Clinton’s record,” wrote Specter, who spoke on the Senate floor Monday to press his case publicly.

In a statement, Leahy blamed Republicans for slowing his panel’s pace of business.

“Republican members of the Judiciary Committee effectively boycotted our business meetings in February and obstructed our ability to report judicial nominations and high-ranking Justice Department nominations.”

Leahy said he had to adjourn business meetings on Feb. 14 and Feb. 28 because not enough Republicans attended."

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/22347-1.html

"Signaling a possible breakthrough in the ongoing nominations impasse, Senate Democrats on Monday afternoon quietly pushed through the stalled appointment of Mark Filip as deputy attorney general."

I just hope this possible opening in confirmations includes judicial nominations as well as executive ones.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-confirm-filip_tuemar0...

"Chicago federal Judge Mark Filip was unanimously approved by the Senate Monday as the Justice Department's second-ranking official, marking the end of a small-scale odyssey that saw Filip's nomination tumble into limbo because of continuing tension between Congress and Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey.

Filip, the hand-picked choice of Mukasey, was confirmed amid charges by Republicans that the Democratic majority hadn't done enough to move along the White House's administrative and judicial nominations."

boycott in Feb.? I would imagine they had a good reason or reasons.

1. As to judicial nominees, the 2/14 Committee Business Meeting was irrelevant, since no nominees had had hearings in time to be ready for consideration and a vote (except in the rather improbable event that he was referring to an unfortunate delay for Keisler).

2. Why would Filip give up a lifetime federal judgeship for a possibly 10 month tenure as a 2nd rank Cabinet Secretary? He must have large political prospects and ambitions.

To me, it increasingly seems that everyone wants to take their ball and go home for 10 months or so.

I guess its not suprising given how much the far left hates our President.

Which really makes Obama's rhetoric surprising. FDR and LBJ didn't change this country through 'consensus'; they did it by forcing the hand of their political opposition. Surely Barack realizes this.

McConnell: ‘End Brinksmanship on Judicial Nominees’

‘I hope the Committee is not slow-walking these nominees based on decade-old grievances, both real and imagined’

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks [as prepared] on the Senate floor Monday regarding the Judiciary Committee’s shut down on circuit court nominations:

“I would like to compliment the Ranking Member on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Specter, on his remarks about the need for the Judiciary Committee to treat the President’s circuit court nominees fairly.

“Before this Congress began, the Majority Leader and I discussed the need for the Senate to have a fairer, and less contentious, confirmation process.

“I believe my friend the Majority Leader still shares that goal. The Senate made decent progress on circuit court nominations last year. We didn’t match President Clinton’s number from his first session of his last Congress, but we came close.

“We had one notable bump along the way, namely the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick. But we were able to get him through. And it is good for the institution that we did.

“Unfortunately, the prospect of turning the page on judicial nominations—a goal which I think all but the hardest partisans share—has taken a wrong turn. Despite the best efforts of the Ranking Member and others, progress has all-but ground to a halt.

“There have been no judicial confirmations so far this year, and there has been only one hearing on a circuit court nominee since September of last year.

“It is puzzling why progress has almost stopped.

“Some like to blame the President. But as the Ranking Member has noted, there are several circuit court nominees who have been pending in Committee for hundreds of days who have yet to receive a simple hearing, let alone a committee or floor vote.

“In addition, many of these nominees satisfy most or all of the Chairman’s specific criteria for prompt consideration: they have strong-home state support, they fill judicial emergencies, and they have good or outstanding ABA ratings.

“So it is puzzling why it is taking so long to move them. I hope the Committee is not slow-walking these nominees based on decade-old grievances, both real and imagined.

“That may be emotionally satisfying, but it will set a precedent that will serve us ill, regardless of who is in the White House and which party controls the Senate.

“I hope my Democratic colleagues resist the desire by some to drag us back into judicial confirmation brinksmanship and establish a precedent they will regret. I hope they will treat these nominees fairly before it is too late.”