Legal News

When, if Ever, Will Obama Get on Track With Judges?

By Ashby Jones

It’s been said that of all the mighty and important things a U.S. president does, the one with the most long-lasting impact is the appointment of federal judges.

On that score, President Obama has got some work to do if he wants to cement a deep legacy on the federal judiciary. According to this WaPo column, Obama could set a couple of unwelcome records for a president halfway through his first term: fewest number of judicial nominees and fewest number of judges placed on the bench.

We’ve blogged on Obama’s rather leisurely pace before (here, here), but apparently he hasn’t been paying careful enough attention to the LB. The WaP reports that as of the Senate’s return Monday, Obama’s 56 nominations lags well behind the number that Bill Clinton (77) or George W. Bush (98) had teed up in mid-April of their second years.

Democrats on Capitol Hill might be inclined to blame Senate Republicans for the slow pace of confirmations, if not the pace of the nominations. But the Democrats had a supermajority of 60 votes until three months ago. Despite that, the Senate has confirmed only 18 of Obama’s nominees, a number, reports the WaPo “far fewer than half those confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate in mid-April in Clinton’s first two years (46, not counting a Supreme Court pick) or the (barely) Democratic majority Bush dealt with (43).”

And it might not get better soon, according to the story. A Justice John Paul Stevens retirement would likely keep the Senate Judiciary Committee and full Senate busy for much of the summer. After that, the Post notes, campaign season is upon us, a period in which the Senate is often less productive.

Lastly, there’s this: Republicans aren’t exactly in go-along-to-get-along mode. As former White House staffer Dan Bartlett says: “Republicans in the Congress have made a calculation . . .that cooperating with this administration at this time is not necessary for them to pick up seats.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on April 08, 2010 (boomark / email).