General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBiden moves to start saving the judiciary from Trump and McConnell on Day One
One of the criticisms of former President Barack Obama in his first term was a lack of focus on judicial nominations, letting many vacancies go unfilled even while Democrats held the Senate. President-elect Joe Biden learned the consequences of letting nominations languish and is already on it, contacting Democratic senators to get their recommendations for judicial candidates. And not for just any good candidates: for the kinds of judges that have been lacking in the federal judiciary.
With respect to U.S. District Court positions, we are particularly focused on nominating individuals whose legal experiences have been historically underrepresented on the federal bench, including those who are public defenders, civil rights and legal aid attorneys, and those who represent Americans in every walk of life, reads a Dec. 22 letter obtained by HuffPost from incoming White House counsel Dana Remus to Democratic senators. Remus continued that Biden doesn't just want those names for a list for potential nominees, he wants recommendationsas soon as possible and with a final deadline of Jan. 19for any existing district court vacancies. That sets him up to get those nominations rolling literally on Day One, Jan. 20. Additionally, Remus told senators that Biden will expect nomination recommendations from them "within 45 days of any new vacancy being announced, so that we can expeditiously consider your recommendations."
What's got progressive court-watching groups excited is that Biden is focusing on not just demographic diversity in nominees, but professional diversity. That's what progressive groups have been urging him to do. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, who leads the American Constitution Society, told The New York Times a few weeks ago that his group, in a coalition with other organizations, had presented Biden with more than 100 candidates. "We think there should be a broader range of experience on the courts," Feingold said. The list they provided fills the brief: "83 are government or legal aid lawyers, 69 are plaintiff or civil rights lawyers, 52 are academics, 42 are state or magistrate judges and 25 are public defenders. At the same time, 166 of the 306 are women, 134 are Black, Indigenous or people of color and 186 are under the age of 50."
Now, whether Biden can get these people confirmed is another question. Should Sen. Mitch McConnell keep his majority, the answer is almost certainly "no." The only answer to that is to do exactly what Biden is doingeverything he can to help Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock win in Georgia, along with moving aggressively and quickly on nominees. That sets up an early fight that could be damaging to McConnell and his Republicans, another big raft of whom are up for reelection in 2022 after McConnell's self-inflicted damage from refusing to allow $2,000 survival checks.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/12/31/2005132/-Biden-gets-a-jump-start-judicial-nominations-requesting-diverse-recommendations-from-Democrats?detail=emaildkre
William769
(55,147 posts)mountain grammy
(26,644 posts)I hoping his rotting body gives out soon..
samsingh
(17,600 posts)knowing that our adversary consists of traitor, liars, and evil people WHY do we keep going timid when we get the power?
PCIntern
(25,576 posts)For example here, I mentioned the notion of a General Strike And all these people here started clutching their pearls as though it was an outrageous, perverse idea. In fact it is almost the only way to get the attention of the military industrial complex. Too much for these folk. We often demonstrate that we have no balls. Rethugs cheered when King Ronnie fired the aircraft controllers in that union-busting move that forever stripped the power from organized labor. We never really fight back. We send angry messages and sternly worded letters. And RWers laugh in our faces. Thats why.
Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)I dont think I clutched my pearls so much as I dont believe General Strikes are part of our culture, or that Americans will get with the program on a mass scale the way the French do. Will the general meat-eating population strike to support meatpackers? Will consumers strike so Amazon workers can collectively bargain? Can people in the gig economy...?
We need a union movement again and desperately. I remember the Air Traffic Controllers strike vividly, and I remember my late mother using an old fashioned phrase to describe what Reagan did: He broke the back of the unions. Unions, plural.
Dad was an aircraft worker and at times shop steward. We relied on salary and benefits negotiated by the union he belonged to. Mom and Dad retired on those benefits. My first husband was a member of the Hotel & Restaurant Workers union in a state where jobs and job mobility were severely limited by tourism being the main employer. The Kaiser Health benefits alone kept us from utter peonage.
Unions were built one by one, over a long time, and people got beat up and people died so unions could be formed and this country let it go.
There are things that can be done from the top, like getting federal laws passed (or enforcing) that mandate support for collective bargaining. Aside from that, it feels like we are virtually at ground zero. I think blood will be shed again before we make substantial progress.
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night...
lunatica
(53,410 posts)He said strong unions and a strong middle class make a strong country. Before I retired I was a proud Teamster. My retirement income comes from union negotiated pension plans and Social Security. Im doing just fine.
Hekate
(90,778 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)Biden doesnt just talk about the middle class. He grew up in it.
samsingh
(17,600 posts)Tommymac
(7,263 posts)This has been a problem with the Democratic Party since the early 1990's when we welcomed more and more BIG Corporate money into our coffers. Yes - we needed it to compete with the big money rethugs get, but it also, at times, gives the Status Quo too much voice in the direction of our party.
They don't want us to be too loud.
The internet and small donations from regular folks has started to really tip the balance though - I predict that as long as the People continue to have a way to donate through tools like Act Blue, and Social Media platforms like Twitter give Us a Global Megaphone we will continue to get louder and stronger.
bucolic_frolic
(43,258 posts)Obama was a great president, but he didn't stretch the Constitution Republican-style, and he was moderate left of center liberal, but he did not strong enough on liberal ideology.
ToxMarz
(2,169 posts)he may be waiting until Georgia senate is decided. May not want to remove him from DC Appeals Court if he can't get an replacement confirmed.
bucolic_frolic
(43,258 posts)How will he stop Mitch from stonewalling? Biden won't get his AG. He should nominate a throw-away, someone sure to be rejected. I think I read that allows him to appoint Acting AG's. He can rely on a series of them. Their time as Acting AG is limited.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)And I really think his iron grip on the party of Trump will not have the same effect once Trump becomes a pariah. McConnells days of glory are behind him.