Litigation

Obama Judicial Nominees Facing ?Stealth War?

By Peter Hardin

The National Law Journal dissects arcane U.S. Senate procedure in an article that exposes the current strategy to frustrate President Obama’s judicial nominations: a “stealth war” carried out through typically secret Republican “holds” placed on a nominee, delaying his advance.

While the outcome can be a unanimous confirmation vote once the long delays are overcome, the article reports, there is a price:

“Each nominee, even those who are not controversial, has become a drawn-out battle.”

Republicans have succeeded with the strategy in part because Democrats haven’t gone to the mat on it. Democratic senators have been concerned about issues higher on the legislative agenda, such as health care overhaul, and Obama has been reticent to promote judicial nominees in public.

The scenario could change. Obama has accelerated the pace of judicial nominations, making 15 federal district judge selections in the past two months. That’s the same number he nominated in his first 11 months after his inauguration.

As for the  impact of the delaying tactics, National Law Journal points to data compiled by Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution, showing that Obama’s circuit court nominees have taken an average of 213 days from nomination to confirmation, contrasted to 141 days for circuit nominees of President Bush.

You can learn more about the often partisan nature of political battles over nominees from Justice at Stake’s issues page.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 17, 2010 (boomark / email).