ConfirmThem

By Dave II Posted in District Courts — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

According to this article in the Grand Rapids Press, the White House will soon announce four new nominees to the U.S. District Court in Michigan, the state with the most and and the longest-standing vacancies. (Sean Cox and Thomas Ludington were nominated earlier and are awaiting Senate confirmation.)

But only two of them are worth getting excited about. That's because the other two are Democrats.

In a deal that mirrors the Susan Wigenton deal struck with New Jersey Democrats several months ago, the White House will nominate two Democrats and two Republicans in exchange for Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow ending their obstruction of all Michigan nominees. That means that in the end, a total two Democrats and four Republicans will take the bench.

I feel for the White House on this one. They've held out a long time, but now they're being forced to make the same type of deals that Clinton made near the end of his second term. Of course, the key difference here is that Bush has the largest Republican Senate majority in 55 years, one that could easily have solved this problem for him, and Clinton was faced with a majority opposition. But Bush is getting about as much support for his nominees from this Senate as Clinton did in 98-2000, so I don't know what choice the White House really has here.

The article also states that the Michigan Deal will allow the White House to fill the two remaining Sixth Circuit vacancies. If both of those are going to good conservatives, then I will have few complaints. A few District judgeships are small potatoes compared to cementing a conservative takeover of one of the most important Courts of Appeals. It's just a travishamockery that it has come to this with a Republican Senate.

Hat Tip to the excellent How Appealing.