Federal Judiciary

Hatch laments Bizarro World

By Curt Levey

Senator Hatch scolded ?Democratic leaders?—with initials HR and PJL I presume—for breaking their commitment and frequently twisting the truth. Hatch noted that the judicial confirmation process reminds him of Bizarro World, ?where up is down, right is left.? Complete remarks here and excerpts below.

On playing fast and loose with the facts:

?We also hear the claim that in presidential election years the judicial confirmation process is, to quote the current Judiciary Committee Chairman, ?far less productive.? Once again, this claim is not true. The average number of appeals court nominees given hearings and the number of judicial nominees confirmed goes up, not down, in presidential election years.?

?Another claim ? is that when I chaired the Judiciary Committee, I blocked more than 60 of President Clinton?s judicial nominees by denying them a hearing. ? A dozen of those nominees were not confirmed because President Clinton withdrew them. ? Many of those unconfirmed nominees did not have the support of their home-state Senators.?

?Some have claimed that the Senate has confirmed 86 percent of President Bush?s judicial nominees, compared to only 75 percent of President Clinton?s. ? The most recent figures from the Congressional Research Service show that the Senate has confirmed 85 percent of President Bush?s appeals court nominees compared to 84 percent of President Clinton?s nominees.?

On breaking the ?3 by Memorial Day? promise:

?There was a clear path to keep that commitment, with nominees who had long ago been fully vetted, nominees who have been pending for up to two years, highly qualified nominees who have the support of their home-state Senators.?

?In November 1999, Majority Leader Trent Lott promised to hold a vote by May 15, 2000, on two of President Clinton?s most controversial judicial nominees, Richard Paez and Marsha Berzon to the Ninth Circuit. He made a commitment, and he kept it. ? It is a very different situation today.?

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Full post as published by ConfirmThem on May 24, 2008 (boomark / email).