Tenth Circuit Nominee With Bipartisan Support Is Filibustered. Incredible.

Last night, a cloture vote was held on the nomination of Robert Bacharach to an Oklahoma-based seat on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The cloture vote failed, which is to say, his nomination was filibustered.

As I mentioned last week, Judge Bacharach has a stellar legal resume and, supposedly, the strong support of his home-state Senators Coburn and Inhofe. That unqualified support manifested itself yesterday in the form of those two Senators voting “present,” rather than “yes” or “no.” Unfortunately for Judge Bacharach, his supporters’ “presents” did not count as votes to cut off debate, so a vote to confirm him cannot go forward at this time. In contrast, GOP Senators Collins and Snowe of Maine, and Senator Brown of Massachusetts, none of whom had voiced the same resounding support for the nominee as his home-state senators, voted “yes," that is, in favor of cutting off debate and moving forward with a confirmation vote. 

Let’s be clear on what happened here: Judge Bacharach’s nomination to a seat that has been open for two years was filibustered. Why? Last month, Minority Leader McConnell asserted that his party would effectively shut down the confirmation process because of the upcoming elections (the ones that are scheduled three months from now). It’s a partisan ploy that keeps judges off courts, and justice out of reach.