Our friends at the Committee for Justice have important information about the recent Senate agreement on judicial nominations. There is a strong danger that the good faith agreement recently struck will not be honored. If Chairman Leahy (D-VT), Majority Leader Reid (D-NV), the members of the Judiciary Committee, and both your senators don’t hear from you about this issue, we may not see three more crucial circuit court judges appointed by the Memorial Day recess.
CitizenLink also reports. Excerpt:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have sent a second letter to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., urging him to confirm three Circuit Court nominations before the Memorial Day recess.
Peter Keisler has been waiting 660 days for a committee vote. Steve Matthews and Robert Conrad, nominees for the 4th Circuit, have been waiting months for their hearings.
“All three of these nominees deserve prompt consideration by the Committee and up-or-down votes by the full Senate,” McConnell and Specter wrote in the letter.
Leahy said two weeks ago he would “do everything possible” to confirm the nominees by Memorial Day, but no action has been taken. Specter said hearings for Matthews and Conrad must be held by May 6 if they are to be confirmed before the recess.
For an illustration of the lack of progress on judges check AdvanceUSA’s circuit court comparison chart.