Thursday, December 30, 2010

Obama Has Lowest Judicial Confirmation Rate In 30 Years


When the 111th Congress ended with a bang by approving DADT repeal, the START treaty and the Obama-Republican tax-cut deal, the Senate's shameful inaction on confirming federal judges may have been overlooked by some, but not by yours truly.

Think Progress notes that roughly one-ninth of all Article III judgeships are now vacant. In fact, Obama has the lowest rate of judicial confirmation (60 judges) of any of the last 6 presidential administrations after the conclusion of their first Congress.

It should especially be noted that Republican obstructionism is disproportionately preventing judicial nominees who happen to not be white or male from joining the federal judiciary. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. NOT!

1 comment:

Kyle Leach said...

Ron, I saw this information as well, though I think from a different source. Conservatives know that the courts cause the greatest shift over time, so over the last few decades they've started to focus their attention and activism there. Not really good news for us on the progressive side, but at least it is something we can fight.

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