Dems Apply Heat Over Judicial Nominee Limbo

With the sun setting on President Obama’s term, more than four dozen judicial nominees remain in limbo, and Senate Democrats have begun speaking out against obstruction by their Republican colleagues. “These are supposed to be nonpolitical positions,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary, said. “I’ve been here longer than anybody else, I’ve never seen anything so irresponsible.” In the final two years of George W. Bush’s presidency, a Democratic majority confirmed 68 of his judicial nominees. In the past two years, a Republican majority has only confirmed 22 of Obama’s picks. Of Obama’s 54 judicial nominees, 25 are waiting action on the Senate floor and 29 are before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Congress is on track to have the lowest number of confirmations since the session that ran from 1951 to 1952, according to the Alliance for Justice. Obama “probably had more judicial nominations than any president in recent history, so it isn’t that he’s been mistreated,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). “You look at the number of judges confirmed under George W. Bush, and President Obama has been treated quite fairly.” Obama has had more judges confirmed than Bush – 327 compared to Bush’s 325 – but Obama has been tasked with filling about 60 more vacancies.