On
Tuesday, June 24 the Senate confirmed two of President Bush’s nominees to the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. While
this is a step in the right direction, the Senate still has much work to do in
order to fulfill its constitutional duty to provide advice and consent for the
president’s judicial nominees. The
following is a statement from the White House:
Yesterday [June 24], the Senate confirmed
Raymond Kethledge and Helene White to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit and Stephen Murphy to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of Michigan. I appreciate the Senate's work on filling these important seats,
which had been declared judicial emergencies.
For the first time in my Administration,
the Sixth Circuit will now have a full court to address important issues facing
the residents of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Unfortunately, too
many other Federal judgeships across America remain vacant. This is
unacceptable and inexcusable. Since the beginning of the 110th Congress, the
Senate has confirmed only 10 circuit court nominees. In the last two years of
the past three Administrations, the Senate has confirmed an average of 17
circuit court judges. I strongly urge the Senate to hold hearings and votes on
the 28 pending circuit and district court nominations to ensure that our Nation
has a fully functioning judicial system.
Also,
AdvanceUSA has updated its judges graph to reflect this new information. As can be seen from this graph, the Senate
still has a ways to go in order to give proper treatment to the president’s
nominees (especially the highly qualified nominees who have been waiting the
longest).
Click here to view a
larger version.