President Promptly Renominates 33 Judicial Nominees While Americans Continue to Wait for Justice

(Washington, D.C.) Today, President Obama renominated 33 judicial nominees who had been pending but were not confirmed in the 112th Congress.  Because of the insistence of the Senate minority, the Senate adjourned without voting on 11 judicial nominees, including four circuit court judges. Most of these nominees waited for months for a vote – one since March 2012. A determined minority of Senators refused to allow timely confirmation votes on President Obama's nominees throughout 2012, and effectively shut down the confirmation process months before the November elections. The minority went so far as to filibuster a circuit court judge supported by both Republican home state senators last July. Even though most of President Obama's nominees have significant bipartisan support and, when votes are held, are confirmed by overwhelming margins, the minority persistently slow-walked judicial nominations.

The following is a statement from Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center:

“The White House renominated 33 people today, some of whom still have not received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  For the eleven nominees who were approved by the Committee, but did not receive a vote during the lame duck, the Senate Judiciary Committee will have to schedule votes to approve them again, not likely until after the Inauguration on January 21. So it will not be until approximately February that the first nominees will be ready for a vote before the full Senate.

“The Senate minority’s continued campaign of obstruction means that people around the country will needlessly be waiting even longer for fully-staffed courts. These delays are all the more frustrating because the nominees are highly qualified candidates with bipartisan support. For example, the last three nominees who were confirmed during the lame duck were approved by voice vote, once they finally came to the floor.

“With 72 vacancies on the federal bench, 17 more than existed at the beginning of President Obama’s administration, we can’t afford this kind of stubborn obstruction. The results of the November election and poll after poll show that Americans want their elected officials to get the job done. Starting today, the Senate needs to do its job on judicial nominations, which means that the minority needs to put the American people, and a functioning judiciary, first.”

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