Two Judges Confirmed; Twenty-Two Not

Tuesday, the Senate confirmed two district court judges, Mary Philips for the Western District of Missouri and Thomas Rice for the Eastern District of Washington. Both of these nominees were unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in October 2011, but had been waiting, for no apparent reason, for confirmation votes for several months.

No other votes on nominations have been announced. In case you missed it, last Friday, Politico reported that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was refusing to agree to votes on the rest of the pending judicial nominees (twelve other nominees were approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, and ten more have been approved since the beginning of 2012). In the same article, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated that he's ready to take extraordinary steps to move nominees, if a deal isn't reached soon.

This is an opportunity to make your voice heard, on a critical issue that directly impacts the lives of over 130 million people across the nation, that can't be missed. Contact your Senators today and tell them that it's time for votes on judicial nominees.