Law Professor Doubts Senate will Speed up Nominations
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Jessica M. Karmasek
Source: West Virginia Record
Date: January 30, 2012
At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday, Utah Senator Mike Lee announced he is “duty-bound to resist the consideration and approval of additional nominations until the president takes steps to remedy the situation.” Lee stated that he is using his authority as a senator to block Obama's nominees because he the president's recess appointments last month were unconstitutional, as the Senate was not technically in recess. In response, President Obama chastised the Senator’s politically-motivated actions, stating in his weekly address that “[the American people] deserve better than gridlock and games.” The President has also proposed new Senate rules to guarantee up-or-down votes on judicial nominees in 90 days. A Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial praises the plan, and urges bipartisan approval for it. However, in a West Virginia Record article, law professor Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond expressed doubt that the Senate would accept the president’s proposal.
See also: Obama's Proposal for Senate Votes on Judicial Nominees Deserves Bipartisan Approval, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012; Obama, Like Roberts, Seeks Harmony in Washington, Christian Science Monitor, January 30, 2012; Scott Wong, Lee vows to Bock Obama Nominees, POLITICO, January 26, 2012; Matt Canham, Obama Takes aim at Sen. Mike Lee in Nominee Fight, The Salt Lake Tribune, January 28, 2012; Al Kamen, Judicial Nominees: Beware the Thurmond Rule, In the Loop, February 3, 2012; Jennifer Bendery, Sen. Mike Lee Vows to Block Obama's Nominees, Uses PAC to Raise Money off Effort, Huffington Post, February 1, 2012; Andrew Cohen, Senate GOP: Activist Federal Judges Wanted, The Atlantic, February 5, 2012.