Many Judicial Picks Aren't Confirmed

[usregimechange]

WASHINGTON—The Senate failed to vote on 19 federal judicial nominees in the 111th Congress, with Republican objections holding up several of President Barack Obama's notable picks.

The fight over judicial nominees echoes the partisan battles that raged during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, leaving Mr. Obama to decide in the New Year whether to renominate his failed choices.

Mr. Obama did get 62 federal judicial picks through the Senate in the past two years, including Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, 16 appellate judges and 44 district judges.

By contrast, during the first Congress of Mr. Bush's presidency, the Senate approved 100 judicial nominees.

Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee, called it a "travesty" that many nominees languished after winning bipartisan approval from his committee.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703548604576037933967640362.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[Laelth]

1. That's too bad. Obama is quite good at picking judges. n/t

-Laelth

[zbdent]

2. gee, wasn't there some sort of dust-up a few years back ...

something about, hmm ... a "nukular option"? You know, getting rid of the filibuster, because some pesky libs thought that some "Patriotic Conservative" Judge was too radical?

[usregimechange]

3. Dems had to ask permission to get a few approved