Democrats Are Headed for a Disaster with Unfilled Judicial Vacancies

[In It to Win It]

Slate

No Paywall

At the end of his first year in office, President Joe Biden’s staff rightly trumpeted the fact that he had nominated and confirmed a historic number of judges at the start of his first term in office. After decades of Republicans outpacing Democrats in focus on the courts, it was welcome news. But today, as terrible decisions from the Supreme Court offer a stark reminder of the importance of the judiciary, we face a tough reality: even an historic pace has not been enough to keep up with the rate of judicial retirements, and President Biden and Senate Democrats are on track to leave more than 60 judicial vacancies open at the end of this year. With the possibility looming that Republicans may retake the Senate, we know that leaving any vacancy open in January could well mean letting a newly empowered Mitch McConnell blockade them, just as he did President Barack Obama’s picks, from Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination to dozens of lower court nominees.

It’s time for Senate Democrats and the Biden White House to push beyond their current practices in order to fill all of the judicial vacancies by the end of this Congress. As someone who worked on judicial nominations in the Senate and the Obama White House, I know how hard it can be for Democrats to challenge norms, but we have seen Republicans stop at nothing in their relentless push to take and retain control of the federal judiciary to impose their extreme, partisan agenda on a majority of Americans who oppose it. Our federal courts are so far out of balance that we need the president and the Senate to do everything in their power to ensure justice and equality. That means filling every vacancy, even if it means breaking with the few remaining judicial confirmation process norms left in McConnell’s wake or standing up to Republican senators. Beginning to bring balance to our judiciary is more important than respecting Senate traditions.

Link to tweet

[Phoenix61]

1. Oh looks, another "Democrats are headed for disaster."nt

[FoxNewsSucks]

2. You don't think it's a problem?

Should we leave those vacancies for the next republicon asshole to fill?

[samsingh]

4. yes we should fill those vacancies

[Phoenix61]

8. Wow! Lots of assumptions there.

1 - You’re assuming Dems lose the Senate and the WH
2- You’re assuming the current Senate doesn’t have this information and if they do don’t have a plan to fill those vacancies
3 - 117th CONGRESS
July 1, 2022
Current Vacancies – 75
0 – Supreme Court
8 – Courts of Appeals
65 – District Courts
2 – Court of International Trade
Pending Nominations - 34
14 – pending in committee
20 – pending on Senate floor
“President Biden has spent decades committed to strengthening the federal bench, which is why he continues to move rapidly to fill judicial vacancies. And he has won confirmation of the most lower court judges for the first year of a presidency since the Kennedy Administration.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/29/president-biden-names-twentieth-round-of-judicial-nominees/

How are 41 empty without a nominee judgeships a disaster? They aren’t.

[In It to Win It]

18. It's about more than the 41 seats that do not have a nominee

because it is assuming that they are able to get through all the current nominees also.

[Phoenix61]

24. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Lovie777]

3. Agreed . ..

[Hortensis]

23. Yes, and ALL OUR FAULT. If only we'd try, but we won't.

(I hear that's because we're just like the Republicans.)

Borrowed from Mcar's post in another "call it out when you see it" thread:

Link to tweet

[mcar]

35. Always proven correct

[mcar]

5. So, vacancies are being filled at a record breaking pace

But Democrats suck because its not enough!!11.

[In It to Win It]

6. So

We can't say that "filling them at record pace is okay, but that's not fast enough."

That's not okay to say?

[Phoenix61]

9. You can say whatever you want.

And others can respond how they want.

[mcar]

11. Sure

But to take it the next step and say Democrats are heading for disaster is a bit much.

Seems to me that the media is falling into their usual default of "dems suck" "Dems are doomed," no matter what. They never do this with Republicans. Ever.

[In It to Win It]

12. Yea, the title of the article could use some work

I thought the article showed had a "light at the end of the tunnel" kind of approach. It wasn't saying Democrats are doomed and there is nothing we can do about.

I thought it was just suggesting that "although we're moving fast, we won't be able to fill these vacancies at our current pace. However, we can fix that by organizing more hearings" etc etc to get as many of these vacancies as soon as possible.

[mcar]

13. A large % of people don't get past

the headline and first paragraph.

[Demsrule86]

17. Well, you were mistaken.

[Demsrule86]

16. The point is you take a Democratic positive and turn it into a negative...thats what the media

does and you are posting it...another shot at Biden and Democrats. I might just start trashing these threads and ignoring them as they serve no useful purpose other than to demoralize Democrats and embolden Republicans.

[In It to Win It]

22. I think he's praising Joe Biden and welcomes the nominations

He's literally saying he's welcoming their focus on the court now more than ever before, considering the shit show we all just had to digest from the Court over the past couple of weeks, but we can move more people through... and this is how we do it.

I see the content of the article as encouraging so I'm sorry you feel that way.

[Demsrule86]

25. This guy hates Democrats and assumes we lose the midterm...personally I would delete this.

It is a terrible article and honestly, most of Slate is third-party shit.

[Celerity]

32. The author, Christopher Kang, served nearly 7 years for President Obama as his Deputy Counsel

and Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs.

https://demandjustice.org/christopher-kang/

so this:

This guy hates Democrats

seems a bit hyperbolic, I would posit


more

Kang oversaw the selection, vetting, and confirmation of more than 220 of the president’s judicial nominees—who set records for the most people of color, women, and openly gay and lesbian judges appointed by a president. He also was in charge of advising President Obama on commutations and pardons from 2014 to 2015 and helped spearhead the confirmations of Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and passage of the Fair Sentencing Act.

Chris also has served as National Director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans and worked for Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin as Director of Floor Operations and Judiciary Committee Counsel. In 2011, the National Law Journal named him one of the top 40 minority lawyers in the nation under the age of 40. Chris serves on the Board of Advisors of the American Constitution Society and the People’s Parity Project.

[BannonsLiver]

7. "DeMoCraTs iN DiSaRray!1!"

[Whiskeytide]

21. The fact that there are so many ...

… vacancies is evidence of the problem. Dem appointed judges have waited to retire until they are assured to be replaced with Dem appointed judges. The obstruction from Republicans has been so long standing that it has created a huge undertaking. We’ve done well, but it would be a disaster to leave so many vacancies and risk another two year stalemate between the midterms and 2024 - when another Republican could steal the Whitehouse.

[Demsrule86]

10. Doom and gloom once again...yawn.

[In It to Win It]

14. I thought

it was a proactive article, suggesting proactive steps to get more vacancies filled... despite the shitty title.

[luv2fly]

15. So did I

But some folks just need to fuss.

[In It to Win It]

19. Can't please them all

[Demsrule86]

26. And sometimes you manage to please almost no one.

Go figure...just going to trash this...so disappointing.

[BlackSkimmer]

20. I thought so too.

Constructive criticism is apparently frowned upon these days. Go figure.

I didn't see it as doom and gloom at all.

[Demsrule86]

27. Right we constructively criticize Democrats into major losses and just once I would like to

see such rhetoric directed at Republicans instead of Democrats.

[BlackSkimmer]

31. I only see pushback against any criticism.

[Celerity]

33. Agreed.

[FSogol]

28. From just reading the headline, I knew this was Slate or Politico! Oh noes!

[Demsrule86]

29. The picture of Schumer alone is disgusting and show exactly who this author is...

now trashing.

[FSogol]

30. Actually, Biden appointed more judges in his first year than anyone besides JFK.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2022/01/26/bidens-first-year-judicial-appointments-process/

Biden’s 42 first-year appointees outnumber all but President Kennedy’s. Biden:

submitted a substantial number of nominees early in the year;
nominated heavily to courts with no opposition party senators; and
saw his nominees receive unified Democratic support (and heavy Republican opposition) in Senate floor votes.

[Mad_Machine76]

34. Aw geez

ANOTHER disaster for Dems?!