AdvanceUSA is proud of the courageous leadership shown by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) yesterday on the crucial issue of judicial confirmations. As frequently reported by AdvanceUSA, the Senate has shamefully fallen behind on its duty to consider and vote on the Presidents nominations to critical federal court positions. The obstruction is particularly dangerous when considering Circuit Court vacancies. Our friends at the Committee for Justice helpfully report on the leadership meetings that took place yesterday, as well as commenting on the excellent floor statements made by several Senators.
Excerpts:
Monday’s meeting appeared to mark a turning point in what the letter calls the Senate’s “most bitter” controversy. A fight over judges has been brewing for weeks now, as GOP senators have become increasingly frustrated with Leahy’s obstruction of nominees. Sen. Specter had urged his colleagues to postpone any hardball tactics while he tried again to work things out with Leahy. But yesterday, “Specter indicated to the conservative leaders that he too had run out of patience and was ready to lead his colleagues into battle,” said Committee for Justice executive director Curt Levey, one of the participants in the meeting.
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Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the floor after Specter to urge that his “Democratic colleagues resist the desire by some to drag us back into judicial confirmation brinksmanship.” McConnell noted that “many of these [judicial] nominees satisfy most or all of [Leahy’s] specific criteria for prompt consideration: they have strong-home state support, they fill judicial emergencies, and they have good or outstanding ABA ratings.” Nonetheless, McConnell said, “there have been no judicial confirmations so far this year, and there has been only one hearing on a circuit court nominee since September of last year.” In last year’s most contentious fight over a judicial nominee, both McConnell and Specter were instrumental in the successful confirmation of Fifth Circuit nominee Leslie Southwick.
Full story here.
To read the entire floor statements of Senators McConnell and Specter see below:
McConnell: End Brinksmanship on Judicial Nominees
Senator Arlen Specter Speaks on the Senate Floor Regarding Judicial Nominations
AdvanceUSA is encouraged that judicial confirmations might become a major issue in the 2008 election because the best strategy for getting well-qualified, originalist judges on federal benches is to rally voters to hold their elected officials accountable for who they nominate and how they vote (or don’t vote) on nominations.
To see how the major presidential candidates stand on judicial nominations and other issues, check out AdvanceUSA’s 2008 Candidates Comparisons.