Republicans in the Senate have made no secret of their efforts to block the President’s constitutional responsibility to appoint federal judges. They have filibustered unquestionably qualified nominees, like Caitlin Halligan. And their obstruction of the confirmation process kept several nominees waiting more than a year for a vote. In fact, on average, our judicial nominees wait more than three times as long as those of President Bush after being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. And for no good reason. Earlier this year, four Circuit Court judges were confirmed by the Senate after waiting at least 250 days – even though each one was confirmed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
But now, Republicans are taking their attempts to manipulate the federal judiciary to an entirely new level. Right as our D.C. Circuit Court nominee Sri Srinivasan was confirmed unanimously, Republicans started pushing a proposal to reduce the number of judges on the D.C. Circuit from 11 to 8, a blatant attempt to shrink President Obama’s constitutional authority to fill this court. As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt learned when he tried to pack the Supreme Court, the three branches of government are coequal for a reason. Neither the executive branch or the legislative branch should use the third branch to a pursue a partisan agenda.
And on the merits, Senator Grassley’s “court unpacking proposal” fails to make any sense.
via Republican Court Unpacking Plan Takes Judicial Manipulation to a New Level | The White House.