ConfirmThem

I really hope that the Republicans do something substantive about judicial nominees. I am tired of the rhetoric - "Oh, we're going to push hard for nominee X!" - and then nothing happens. I am especially worried about Specter. He talked about getting Michael Wallace confirmed - and nothing happened. He has talked about getting Peter Keisler confirmed - and nothing has happened. This is a little like the boy who cried wolf. How many times do we have to listen to senators pontificate on judges and then do nothing about it? Sometimes, they even actively avoid the issue, like what the Republican senators on the SJC did in September of 2006 when they refused to process Boyle, Myers, W. Haynes, Smith, Wallace and Keisler. Republican senators were on purpose avoiding SJC business meetings so they wouldn't have to deal with the issue of judges.

Something, I have noted recently is that despite all the Republican angst last Thursday, no new COA nominee hearing has been posted for April. I suspect the Dems are waiting to have the hearing on Pratter in May, which means she can't be confirmed until June. That in turns mean Agee won't get a hearing until June and won't be confirmed until July, the beginning of the Thurmond Rule. If the Dems wait until July to confirm Agee, all the other nominees, including Keisler and the other Fourth Circuit nominees, are dead ducks.

As I have said before, I doubt Specter will really help shutdown the Senate until Pratter and Short are confirmed. The Dems have him on the ropes with the nominations of those two.

If the shoe were on the other foot, the Democrats would have figuratively burned down the Senate. Don't hold your breath for the Republicans to get a spine. The fine and brilliant people nominated are fast disappearing. No brilliant lawyer is willing to put up with these third rate attorneys in the Senate lecturing them and putting them through the gauntlet.
Only the power hungry and rogues will seek appointment, and that is a tragedy regardless of their philosophical leanings.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-charge-bush-broke-law-bypassing...

"A controversial lawyer [Steven Bradbury] has led a top Justice Department office for the past three years without the approval of the Senate, a scenario that Democrats charge is illegal.

Now the majority party is considering ways to force him from the position."

"Taking the Justice Department to court could be fruitless since plaintiffs could face an uphill climb in proving they have legal standing, they say. Durbin intends to ask the comptroller general if that argument complies with the law and take steps based on that answer, according to an aide to the Senate majority whip.

Another option under consideration is to defeat Bradbury in committee, which would add further pressure to remove him from the spot. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a swing vote on the panel, said she doesn’t “believe” she would support him if the committee scheduled a vote, meaning that Democrats appear to have enough votes to defeat the nomination."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR200804...

"A Democratic nominee to the Federal Election Commission yesterday withdrew his name for consideration, choosing private-sector work rather than waiting out a confirmation impasse between Senate Democrats and President Bush that has hobbled the agency.

Robert Lenhard, whose two-year recess appointment to the commission expired in December, accepted a position with the law firm Covington & Burling. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said it would take "at least several months" to offer up a replacement nominee, meaning the electoral watchdog commission will remain at gridlock most of the campaign season."

"Reid again asked Bush to withdraw the nomination of former Justice Department lawyer Hans A. von Spakovsky, who Reid and other Democrats allege acted improperly in implementing a voting rights law.

But White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said yesterday that Bush "continues to strongly support his nomination," urging Reid to consider von Spakovsky as part of an entire slate of FEC nominees.

Reid has only offered to have up-or-down votes on individual nominees, allowing for the possible confirmation of some nominees and the rejection of von Spakovsky."

This administration has waste valuable time, energy, and political capital on too many useless executive nominees, and this has undoubtedly damaged the prospects of numerous judicial nominees, which are far more important in the long run to good government and the rule of law.

What a shame.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR200804...

From Matthew's above link,

"In the past two years, the Senate has confirmed seven nominees to the Court of Appeals; 16 such nominees were confirmed during President Bill Clinton's final two years in office. It appears unlikely that Democratic senators will match that number, but they should at least give every current nominee an up-or-down vote and expeditiously process the nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, where five of the court's 15 seats are vacant. Many in the current batch of national nominees no doubt warrant confirmation; we single out two particularly worthy ones.

Peter D. Keisler was nominated in 2006 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; his confirmation hearing was in August of that year. It is a travesty that he has yet to get a vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mr. Keisler, who was chief of the Justice Department's Civil Division before joining a private law firm, earns plaudits from the right and left for his stellar intellect and his judicial demeanor. Democrats have held up Mr. Keisler's nomination over a squabble about whether the D.C. Circuit needs 12 full-time judges. That dispute is over: Congress eliminated the 12th seat this year. Mr. Keisler should be confirmed forthwith.

Rod J. Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney in Maryland, is unquestionably well qualified. He, too, has earned admirers from both sides of the aisle, including Jo Ann Harris, who was Mr. Rosenstein's boss when she was a top official in the Clinton Justice Department. Mr. Rosenstein's confirmation hearing for a seat on the 4th Circuit is being blocked by Maryland's two Democratic senators, Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin. Among other things, they argue that Mr. Rosenstein lacks "roots" in Maryland. That's preposterous: Mr. Rosenstein has worked in the Washington area for about 18 years and has been a resident of Bethesda for 10. More important, he is an excellent and principled lawyer who has all the makings of an excellent and principled judge."

The Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-judges12apr12,0,403...

"Former Assistant Atty. Gen. Peter D. Keisler, for instance, has been rated well-qualified by the American Bar Assn. Keisler was first nominated in 2006 to replace Roberts on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He deserves a vote."

The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR200804...

"Mr. Keisler, who was chief of the Justice Department's Civil Division before joining a private law firm, earns plaudits from the right and left for his stellar intellect and his judicial demeanor. Democrats have held up Mr. Keisler's nomination over a squabble about whether the D.C. Circuit needs 12 full-time judges. That dispute is over: Congress eliminated the 12th seat this year. Mr. Keisler should be confirmed forthwith."

http://bench.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzZlYzZhYmU4ZWQ5MDY4ZTc0Yzg2YTA5...

"In this excellent house editorial today, the Washington Post tells Senate Democrats, “It’s time to stop playing games with judicial nominees.” Democratic senators, the Post urges, “should at least give every current nominee an up-or-down vote and expeditiously process the nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, where five of the court’s 15 seats are vacant.”

Among the “[m]any” nominees who “no doubt warrant confirmation,” the Post praises as “particularly worthy” the nominations of Peter Keisler to the D.C. Circuit and of Rod Rosenstein to the Fourth Circuit. On Keisler: “It is a travesty that he has yet to get a vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee,” and he “should be confirmed forthwith.” On Rosenstein: He is “unquestionably well qualified” and “has all the makings of an excellent and principled judge,” and the claim by Maryland’s senators that he lacks “roots” in Maryland is “preposterous”.

(As I discussed here, the Los Angeles Times had a similar editorial on Saturday.)"

Despite the recommendations of Bobo and some others to concentrate on the Conrad 4th Circuit nomination, it is my belief that this nomination is all but doomed. The recent public opposition to Conrad by pro-abortion special interest groups makes an already unlikely confirmation virtually impossible.

I never had much hope for Conrad's confirmation. Why, pray tell, after SEVEN years of expert obstruction to keep this controversial North Carolina seat open, would Dem-Libs suddenly surrender now with only 3 months left before invoking the "Thurmond Rule" and running out the clock in Bush's final year?

The better strategy would be to nominate someone from the Warner-Webb list to the Widener's Virginia seat tomorrow (if it's not too late already), and concentrate on that confirmation after Pratter and Agee.

I do not mean in any way to imply that Republicans should not concentrate on confirming Keisler as well, although his confirmation still seems unlikely this year. Keisler should remain a top post-Agee priority, along with the other Virginia 4th Circuit seat. If he is is somehow confirmed, it will probably be the result of some unfathomable backroom Senate deal, and definitely without another hearing.

If Keisler is not confirmed, President McCain (if elected) should renominate him immediately after taking office. This goes for Conrad, Kethledge and Matthews as well. He should also make nominations to 3-4 other CCA judgeships within a month after his inauguration. No waiting until May 9th this time. The clock will already be ticking.