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Related: About this forumSenate Dems step up judicial wars
Democratic leaders are ratcheting up the judicial wars in the Senate, taking direct aim at Republicans who have threatened to block any high-level court nominees until the November elections.
On Thursday, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a procedural motion to bring up the nomination of Robert Bacharach of Oklahoma to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, daring Republicans to block a nominee supported by both parties. Sixty votes would be needed on Monday evening to prevent a filibuster from derailing the nomination.
Reid's move could fail because Republicans have invoked the so-called Thurmond Rule, an informal custom in the Senate in which the opposition party prevents the president from getting any more high-level nominees confirmed to lifetime spots in the final months before the elections. Democrats argue that the move unfairly would block several consensus nominees to appeals courts, including Bacharach, who is supported by the Republican senators from his state.
Still, the GOP says its perfectly consistent with past practices, calling the rule the Leahy-Thurmond Rule, referring to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahys (D-Vt.) actions under President George W. Bush. The Republican move has stalled the nominations of Patty Shwartz nomination of New Jersey to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Richard Taranto for the federal circuit, William Kayatta of Maine for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The winner of the elections, they say, should determine the lifetime seats.
-snip-
http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/07/senate-dems-step-up-judicial-wars-130243.html?hp=f3
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NO! The Senate should NOT wait until after the election.
The current FOUR Circuit Court nominees that have been sent by the Senate Judiciary Committee to the 'full Senate' that are waiting for a floor vote were all nominated by President Obama quite a long time ago:
Patty Shwartz - October 5, 2011
Richard G. Taranto - November 10, 2011
Robert E. Bacharach - January 23, 2012
William J. Kayatta, Jr. - January 23, 2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama
All four of these folks should have been confirmed months ago !!!
It is time for the Senate GOPers to stop playing games and DO THEIR JOB!
Edited to add:
And LOOK at both of the sections of the Circuit and District Court nominations here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama
There has been ONLY ONE (District Court) that was nominated in 2012 that has so far been confirmed.
ONLY ONE out of a total of TWENTY-SEVEN 2012 nominees !!!
This is outrageous!
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Senate Dems step up judicial wars (Original Post)
Tx4obama
Jul 2012
OP
Firebrand Gary
(5,044 posts)1. Pardon my language, Reid should go FUCKING NUCLEAR if he has to.
The "cute" usage of the Thurmond rule is fucking hysterical, the GOP has blocked the Presidents court nominees for years. What a pathetic excuse for inaction!
Thanks for the post Tex. This is one issue that gets me hot, hot, HOT!
Thankful I completely trust the President and know that he will protect the Judicial branch at all cost.
AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)2. He Can't
Until next year (if we still have a majority in the Senate then, which is not all that likely).
Firebrand Gary
(5,044 posts)3. Why?
As I understand it, the President nominated many of these individuals well before the agreed cut off time which is six months prior to the potential of a new administration taking place.
AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)4. He Still Can't Change the Filibuster Rules Without a Supermajority
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)5. I'm thinking that IF Obama were to lose in November (which he won't) then ...
then we will see Obama force The Senate to adjourn (which he can do because it says so in the U.S. Constitution) and make the Senate go into a full legal recess (the Senate has been doing a work around and not fully recessing for over a year now by holding pro-forma session when they're not in session because they can't get all the GOPers to agree to adjournment) and then I think we will see President Obama recess appoint a TON of folks.
Anyway, that is one possibility.