Showdown on Senate Obstruction of Judges Is Coming: Stay Tuned

Yesterday it was reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring a package of judicial and/or executive branch nominees for a Senate vote at the end of next week, before the Senate’s week-long President’s Day recess begins. Why is this such big news? Well, the Senate has only confirmed one judicial nominee in 2012. This, despite the fact that there are 86 judicial vacancies, of which 33 have been deemed judicial emergencies. And there are 19 nominees who are waiting for a Senate vote, some who have been cooling their heels for months. I should add that of those 19 nominees, 8 are women who would add sorely-needed diversity to the federal bench. And although these nominees have bipartisan support – the vast majority, in fact, were unanimously voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee – a determined minority in the Senate has been refusing to allow confirmation votes. Case in point: Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who recently announced that he was blocking all judicial and executive branch nominees in protest of the recess appointments of Richard Cordray and three NLRB members.

When people around the country – including in Senator Lee’s home state of Utah – are waiting for judges to be confirmed so that they can ease the burden on overworked courts and get the wheels of justice moving once more, it’s shameful that it takes a parliamentary throwdown to move highly qualified nominees with broad-based support. But maybe shining a little daylight on Senate obstruction will bring the justice system that all Americans deserve a little closer within our reach.