Judicial Nominations in the Bush and Obama Administrations’ First Nine Months

[usregimechange]

October 23, 2009 —
After the speedy and relatively noncontentious confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, federal court watchers are upping their attention to courts of appeals and district courts. The headline of an October 16, 2009, Washington Post article captured the unease among some Obama supporters: “Obama Criticized as Too Cautious, Slow on Judicial Posts.”

October 20 marked nine months since the change in administrations, ample time to begin comparisons between the nomination process of the previous Bush administration with the current one, as to nominations made, hearings held, nominees confirmed, and nominee characteristics, even if it’s hardly enough time to predict how things will look after a year, or two, or more.

Nominations

President Bush inherited 81 federal court vacancies on January 20, 2001, and by October 20 he had made 60 nominations (not the 100 or so cited in some news accounts and blogs). Those nominations represented 73 percent of the inherited vacancies. (Of course, additional vacancies occurred in the nine months after Inauguration Day, but the start-of-term figure is a common baseline.)

President Obama inherited only 54 vacancies and made only 22 circuit and district nominations by October 20, representing 41 percent of the vacancies inherited. Had the Obama administration nominated judges at the same rate as the Bush administration, it would have filled all the vacancies it inherited.

http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2009/1023_courts_wheeler.aspx

[Thrill]

1. Dawn Johnson still not confirmed. This isn't about Obama

This is about weak Democrats in the Senate. And Progressives sitting on their asses not fighting. There is no excuse for Dawn Johnson not being confirmed. Where is NARAL to put pressure on Reid? Especially since her working there at one point is one of the reasons she is being held up.

[usregimechange]

2. Agreed, I would add that the Senate doesn't seem to work more than 2 days a week

[SpartanDem]

3. More great work from the party of no

Clouture motions eat up a ton time with the needs for 30 pre and post vote debate