Now You're In the Loop
By AndrewHyman Posted in Analysis and Predictions — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Al Kamen of the Washington Post says that President Bush probably won't appoint as many judges as Clinton did. Here's an extended excerpt:
Some Republicans are upset that the White House has nominated only 25 people to fill the 47 vacancies now on the federal judiciary. Not to worry. If history is any guide, President Bush can nominate as many people as he wants, but most of them will not don the black robes anytime soon.
As we head into the administration's final 18 months, it appears that, with the Democrats running the Senate, Bush, who has put 278 district and appeals court judges on the bench, has virtually no chance of besting Bill Clinton's 370 appointments to those courts -- about 43 percent of the total 853 judges.
Only an average of 51.5 judges have been confirmed in the last year of recent presidencies -- Jimmy Carter through Clinton -- including an average of nine confirmed for the more important federal appellate courts.
If that average holds, Bush will fall well short of Clinton's total, and he may be hard-pressed to get the 11 he needs to match Clinton's 65 appeals court appointments. (By the way, Clinton reached his total with the Senate in GOP hands for six of his eight years.)
Hat Tip: How Appealing.
Kethledge/Murphy
by zendari
If they were not officially dead before, they are now, after this wiretapping ruling.
The split deal with Levin might not be a bad idea...might be the only way to get anyone confirmed at all to any circuits.
The Last Possible Plan
by Woodland
Seems like the best we can shoot for now is to publically guilt the Dems into giving Bush just an many judges as Clinton got. This is simple math the public can understand. The Republicans gave Clinton this many judges; its only the fair the Democrats do the same for Bush. If the Dems cry the Republicans stalled Clinton's nominees, it will just make them look worse as they havent even met that standard.
I'd say that's a bad assumption.
Thank you senate republicans.