ConfirmThem

Cool! Let's have more of it. The less Congress can do the better.

ANDREW: FYI - you spelled Senate wrong.

Fixed. Thanks!

We could complain that it's too little, too late, but instead let's be glad they're doing it.

Where have you gone Jn. McCain? Any press releases from him? After all, he apparently supports the Boxer bill.

The reading of the Boxer amendment has finished after 10 hours and been defeated. McConnell is now speaking about judges and the necessary reasons for forcing the amendment to be read. He is telling the Democrats that it is their fault for not being good on their word about three circuit judges before Memorial Day. He warns that a Dem president in 2009 might face Republican obstruction of his judicial nominees.

Reid and McConnell also reveal that another attempt at confirming a package of 80 or so executive and judicial nominees (the three district court judges already on the Executive Calendar) was thwarted because the Senate Republicans were not consulted, although the White House was.

Reid is trying to wiggle out of his May promise, stating that he didn't explicitly say which judges would be processed. He also is trying to promote the idea that since the percent of judgeships filled is the lowest in decades that the Dems are treating Bush nominees better than Clinton nominees were treated by the Republicans. Conveniently he neglects to distinguish between district and circuit court nominees.

Leahy makes some incoherent comments about processing judges. He and Leahy try to deflect discussion of circuit court nominees by concentrating on the three district court nominees on the Executive Calendar. Reid acts as if he hasn't had any prior knowledge about these three despite the fact that these three have been on the Executive Calendar since April. Now Reid is saying that if the Republicans continue delaying then he will hold up the district court nominees for more Dem examination. Reid and Leahy are claiming it has always been necessary for the Republicans to ASK for district court judges to be processed, something the Republicans haven't done so far. They say that district court judges are NOT automatically processed even if out of committee. This is a lot of smoke and mirrors. Reid is talking about district court judges to actively avoid dealing with circuit court judges. I hope McConnell isn't fooled.

Sessions of Alabama has directly asked Reid if he plans on processing the 15-17 COA judges he promised at the beginning of the 110th Senate. Reid tries to avoid answering him with talk about processing Kethledge and White. Sessions asks his question again. Reid tries to stonewall him by accusing Sessions of insulting him earlier in the day and asking for an apology. Then he returns to promising action on Kethledge and White and negotiations about scheduling votes on the three district court nominations. Again, he refuses to address the idea of 15-17 COA confirmations. Leahy pipes in that he will not "pocket filibuster" nominees, again not distinguishing between district and circuit court nominees.

McConnell gets a promise from Reid to schedule votes on the three district court nominees this week. As a result, McConnell and Reid agree on confirming the 80+ nominee package. This makes me mad. Once again,

MCCONNELL AND SESSIONS GET NO GUARANTEE ON CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES!!!!

THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!

SUCH A WASTE OF TIME FOR THREE DISTRICT COURT NOMINEES!!!!

DID THE SENATE JUST SPEND 10 HOURS READING AN AMENDMENT FOR THIS?????????

I believe that the current Senate has confirmed the lowest number of judges since Alaska and Hawaii joined the continental United States. During Watergate and its aftermath, the Senate confirmed a very low number of judges. Does anyone have the numbers of circuit and district court judges confirmed during each Congress from 1960 to date? Perhaps we can provide a little ammunition for our friend, Sen. McConnell.

I am disgusted with McConnell. He just gave up a perfect opportunity to force Reid to deal on Keisler, Robert Conrad and Matthews. For what? For votes on three district court nominees already on the Executive Calendar!!!!! This is unbelievably stupid on his part!

Durbin just said that it was sad that all day had been wasted on three district court judges. I totally agree. This is bad spin that McConnell brought upon himself for no good reason. Why did he just let Reid walk away unscathed!

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/53_147/news/25673-1.html

"Following a nearly daylong standoff between Senate Democrats and Republicans over President Bush’s judicial nominations, the two sides appeared close to a deal late Wednesday that would move some of his picks for the executive branch while freeing up a climate change measure that had been caught in the crossfire."

I am getting the distinct impression that today was really all about executive nominations and had little to do with judicial nominations. It sounds like McConnell was really interested in getting 80+ executive nominees confirmed under the FALSE guise of confirming judicial nominees. I feel manipulated. I wish politicians, even the ones I support, would stop lying about their real intentions and purposes!

These 80 or so executive nominations have been stuck since December.

McConnell is not saying he's done although he may be and in that case, you can feel free to rip him a new one.

What he did today was accomplish something that's been pending for six months and re-raise the issue of judicial nominations.

Do I hope he's not done? Yep .. but getting a lot of good people into place for the next six months isn't going to hurt either.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senate-fight-night-2008-06-05.html

"Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) later took to the floor and questioned whether Reid was committed to confirming the appeals court nominees.

“Is that the majority leader’s intention to reach the average?” Sessions asked.

In response, Reid said that comments Sessions made earlier the day that suggested he was “clueless” were a violation of rules of decorum in the chamber.

“That was really an insult,” Reid said. “I would ask my friend, did you really mean I was clueless?”

Sessions apologized, saying he got worked up in the heat of the debate.

“If I was violating a rule, and I was doing anything to insult the majority leader, I would apologize,” Sessions responded.

Reid said he would try to confirm the three nominees as he tried before the Memorial Day recess. He says that Republicans have delayed one of the appeals court nominees, impeding his efforts so far to reach that goal.

"I've learned here in the Senate to put the day behind you and move on to the next," Reid said at the end of the debate."

NOTE: From last night's debate, I couldn't tell if Reid meant that he planned on confirming THREE circuit court judges this month to make up for the three he couldn't do last month, or whether he meant that he would just process Kethledge and White to go along with Agee. In the first case, he may be saying that he plans on confirming Glen Conrad this month as well as Kethledge and White.

On another aside, Reid talked about the Thurmond Rule not applying yet in June. If he gets Glen Conrad confirmed this month, then that leaves Keisler, R. Conrad and Matthews as "controversial" nominees that he can block in July with the Thurmond Rule. Stone, Rosenstein, Pratter, and Smith are dead under any conditions due to the blue-slip rule.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/05/mcconnell-stalls-senate-...

"With elections looming, Mr. McConnell said he thinks Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and Judiciary Committee chairman, is deliberately moving slowly to try to run out the clock on Mr. Bush's nominations.

"I believe that's what the chairman of the Senate committee has in mind," he said.

Mr. Leahy is using a different yardstick than Mr. McConnell, pointing to judicial vacancies as the measure. On Tuesday, he said he's on track for real progress.

"Disputes over a handful of controversial judicial nominations have wasted valuable time that could be spent on the real priorities of every American. I have sought, instead, to make progress where we can. The result is the significant reduction in judicial vacancies," he said.

He also said he will schedule votes for two nominees to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyer Raymond M. Kethledge and Michigan Appeals Court Judge Helene N. White, both of whom are sought by Democrats.

But Republicans said he should schedule votes on other nominees they want to see, including U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., and lawyers Peter D. Keisler and Steve A. Matthews, all of whom have been waiting longer than the two nominees Mr. Leahy wants to move."

This link isn't live as I enter it, but it will be in due course.

Congressional Record of heated discussion over Captain Trade (global warming legislation) and nominations (Page S5021, et seq)

This from Leahy is what I found in the dictionary, under "chutzpa"

I was wondering what was going on until I read in the Washington Times the Republican fixation on judges is part of an effort to bolster Senator John McCain's standing among conservatives--which is unfortunate; to bring in the judiciary, the independent Federal judiciary, and make them a political tool.

Reid: I say first to my friend from Alabama, he said that. Was it something he did not really mean, that I was clueless? Because that is an insult. I would ask my friend, did you really mean that I was clueless?

Mr. SESSIONS. If I was violating a rule or saying anything to insult the majority leader, I would apologize because I do respect the majority leader. He always treated me fairly, as I think he does most people in the Senate. I think he is so recognized.

"Bless his heart." ROTFL. Reid is, in fact, clueless, so it isn't insulting to say so. One of these days, tempers might even flare.

My opinion is that it was just that, a "stunt" with little gained. An agreement to vote on three District Court nominations already out of committee, and to move two Circuit Court nominations out of committee "forthwith" with votes to follow as soon as practicable. And the Democrats are saying they are being GENEROUS, in that the Thurmond rule date of June 1 is being stretched.

And here is the context of Senator Sessions calling Senator Reid "clueless"
(Page S4998) ...

On Monday, my good friend, Senator Reid, the Democratic leader--and I do admire him, and he has a tough job, there is no doubt about it. I know he can't make everybody happy--seemed hurt Monday that the Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said bringing this bill up demonstrated he was out of touch. Well, I say that is maybe too nice a term. Maybe "clueless" would have been a legitimate term. Senator Reid is such a wonderful guy. He comes from Searchlight, NV. I suggest he go back to Searchlight and talk to real people. What are they going to say, that they want us to raise prices of gasoline? Give me a break. They are not going to tell him that in Searchlight, just as they didn't tell me in Alabama to come here and pass higher taxes on gasoline, to create bureaucracies the likes of which we have never seen, to create high energy prices, to drive up the price of energy by this complex, sneaky cap-and-trade tax system that the Wall Street Journal calls the greatest wealth transfer since the income
tax, or to create a bureaucracy that is going to monitor this complexity throughout the country.

The Reid/McConnell battle over nominations continues this morning, with Senator McConnell reminding listeners that Senator Reid spend 9 hours reading from his book, in a year 2003 filibuster over judicial nominations, and comparing that to the value of having the cap 'n' trade bill read aloud.

McConnell is speaking as I type this at 9:42.