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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Alex Kingsbury
More than 10 months into President Obama's term in office, he and the Democratic-controlled
On the campaign trail, Obama promised an armistice in the perennial fights over federal judges. Those nomination skirmishes, while successful at arousing the political extremes of both parties, left the judicial branch of government badly understaffed. But the deliberate pace of the Obama administration so far hasn't helped either. Obama has lagged far behind his predecessor when it comes to even nominating judges for vacant positions. By this point in his first term, George W. Bush already had nominated 95 judicial candidates. The slow pace, combined with obstructive tactics by Senate Republicans and inaction from Senate Democrats, has left nearly 100 judgeships vacant, about 10 percent of the seats on the appeals and district courts.
Both Republicans and Democrats note that the process of replacing retiring
Democrats blame the
"We should not have to overcome filibusters and spend months seeking time agreements to consider these nominations," Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said in September after the confirmation of Judge Gerard Lynch to a seat on the
In another apparent tactic, Republican senators have asked for hours of floor debate time for nominations that are eventually approved with few, if any, "No" votes. Last week, for instance, Republicans asked for two hours to debate the nomination of Judge Roberto Lange to the District of South Dakota but used only five minutes to discuss the nomination, which was approved 100 to 0. Judge Lynch, for his part, waited three months for a vote from the full
Then again, the Democrats, who enjoy a 60-vote majority in the chamber, have been unwilling to force votes of yea or nay on the nominees. "They're the party setting the tempo and banging the gavel. Don't blame us for not moving things along," says one senior
The vacancies are exacerbating conditions for the already strained third branch of government, which has not been expanded in the past 20 years. While both parties agree there is a need to have more judges to manage the increasing caseload, there is little political will to do so. Leahy introduced a bill that would add 63 federal judges to the nation's benches, but it has yet to attract even a single Republican cosponsor.
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