TPMDC Judicial nominees
Harry Reid
Reid Dares GOP: Block Judicial Nominees, And You Will Also Stall The JOBS Act
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a message for the Republicans: Stand in the way of confirming over a dozen judicial nominees, as you've threatened to, and the country can watch for weeks as you hold up the bipartisan JOBS Act. I dare you.
Ever since President Obama used his recess appointment power to install the director of a powerful consumer protection agency, and members of the National Labor Relations Board, Senate Republicans have threatened to hold up all of his other pending nominees. Including judges.
Normally, there's little a majority leader can do to thwart a determined minority bent on grinding the Senate to a halt. But Reid believes he's found the leverage he needs.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Economy, Filibuster, Harry Reid, Jobs, Judicial nominees, Mitch McConnell, Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee
Senate Republicans
Senate Republicans Block Obama Recess Appointments
Elizabeth Warren, Chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP
Senate Republicans are using a parliamentary trick to block President Obama from making any recess appointments during the Senate's Memorial Day break -- including a long-awaited nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Senate will remain in pro-forma session because Republicans objected to the unanimous consent required to adjourn. The parliamentary maneuver prevented the Senate from officially going into recess for a week, denying Obama a chance for recess appointments even though Republicans openly acknowledge that they don't expect any.
"Senate Republicans are doing this just in case," said a House GOP aide.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, House Republicans, Judicial nominees, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, White House
Harry Reid
Post-Liu Filibuster, California Dems Tell Reid To Break Out The Nuclear Option
Goodwin Liu
With the Republicans filibustering judicial nominee Goodwin Liu, the chairman of the California Democratic Party says it's time for Senate Democrats to deploy the so-called nuclear option, according to a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid obtained by TPM.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Goodwin Liu, Harry Reid, Judicial nominees
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
In Afghanistan, Boehner Assails U.S. Pullout Plan
AFP reports: "US House Speaker John Boehner wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan Wednesday and assailed President Barack Obama's plan to begin pulling US troops out in July a risk to fragile security gains.'Any drawdown of US troops must be based on the conditions on the ground, not on political calculations,' Boehner, the White House's top Republican foe in the US Congress, said in a statement from his office in Washington."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will deliver remarks to a DNC event in San Francisco at 12:40 p.m. ET. He will depart from San Francisco at 1:35 p.m. ET, arriving at 2:30 p.m. ET in Reno, Nevada. At 2:50 p.m. ET, he will participate in a "Shared Responsibility and Shared Prosperity" town hall. He will depart from Reno at 4:30 p.m. ET, arriving at 5:45 p.m. ET in Los Angeles, California. He will deliver remarks at a DNC event at 9:55 p.m. ET, and deliver remarks at another DNC event at 10:50 p.m. ET.
Topics: 2012 elections, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Debt Ceiling, Eric Cantor, Immigration, John Boehner, Judicial nominees, K Street, Lobbying, Roundup
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Federal Judicial Vacancies Reaching Crisis Point
The Washington Post reports: "Since Obama took office, federal judicial vacancies have risen steadily as dozens of judges have left without being replaced by the president's nominees. Experts blame Republican delaying tactics, slow White House nominations and a dysfunctional Senate confirmation system. Six judges have retired in the past six weeks alone."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will receive his daily briefing at 10:30 a.m. ET. He will meet at 2:30 p.m. ET with the National Policy Alliance. At 4:30 p.m. ET, he and Vice President Biden will meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Topics: 2012 Presidential Primaries, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Blue Dogs, Budget, Earmarks, Joe Biden, Judicial nominees, Ray LaHood, Robert Gates, Roundup
Bob Bauer
White House Counsel Calls For Senate To End Judicial 'Cold War'
Robert Bauer
The Obama administration will try to forge a new path forward to get their judicial nominees through the Senate confirmation process, White House Counsel Bob Bauer said Tuesday. That plan would supposedly solve what Bauer termed a long-running "cold war" between Democrats and Republicans on judicial nominees.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bob Bauer, Judicial nominees
Filibuster Reform
BREAKING: Senate Filibuster Reform Package
Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV)
Here are the specific filibuster reforms that Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), will be pushing beginning this afternoon, obtained by TPM. Spoiler: they include at least one little-discussed item meant to appeal to the minority.
As promised, Udall proposes ending secret holds and the right of the minority to filibuster the start of debate, and demanding the "talking" filibuster.
But, according to documents provided by Udall's office in advance of his floor speech, it also includes a proposal that guarantees both parties the right to amend legislation -- limiting the majority leader's power to "fill the amendment tree" and block extended debate.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Filibuster, Filibuster Reform, Judicial nominees, Nominees, Tom Udall
Barack Obama
Silver Lining: Why Dems' Big Loss Could Pave The Way For Obama Nominees
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Barack Obama
Dems have little reason to be happy about this month's election results. Gone for at least two years -- and probably more -- are their hopes of passing anything like the historic legislation they enacted during this Congress. Additionally starting next year they will have to contend with ascendant adversaries in the House, bent on unraveling those accomplishments and embarrassing President Obama with aggressive use of subpoena power.
But Democrats still control the Senate. So while the House passes legislation the Senate has no interest in considering, Majority Leader Harry Reid will have much more time, if he chooses, to devote to confirming a large backlog of Obama's judicial and executive branch nominees -- particularly numerous non-controversial picks, who will have to be renominated next year.
That's certainly what advocates would like to see.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Filibuster, Harry Reid, Judicial nominees, Nominees
Barack Obama
Obama To GOP: Confirm My Judges Already!
President Barack Obama
Better late than never, but President Obama is finally pressing the Senate to confirm his long-stalled judicial nominees.
In a letter delivered yesterday to key Senators, Obama demanded an end to GOP obstructive tactics that are preventing dozens of non-controversial judges from being confirmed.
"I write to express my concern with the pace of judicial confirmations in the United States
Senate," Obama wrote. "Yesterday, the Senate recessed without confirming a single one of the 23 Federal judicial nominations pending on the Executive Calendar.... At this point in the prior Administration (107th Congress), the Senate had confirmed 61% of the President's judicial nominations. By contrast, the Senate has confirmed less than half of the judicial nominees it has received in my Administration. Nominees in the 107th Congress waited less than a month on the floor of the Senate before a vote on their confirmation. The men and women whom I have nominated who have been confirmed to the Courts of Appeals waited five times longer and those confirmed to the District Courts waited three times longer for final votes."
Topics: Barack Obama, Filibuster, Harry Reid, Jeff Sessions, Judicial nominees, Mitch McConnell, Obstructionism, Patrick Leahy
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Dems: We'll Run On Our Record
The Hill reports: "Congressional Democrats on Thursday declared they would run on their legislative record this fall, rejecting former President Clinton's advice to counter a new Republican policy agenda with one of their own...House and Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday ridiculed the Republicans' 'Pledge to America,' a manifesto designed as a sequel to the 'Contract With America' that helped the GOP win control of Congress in 1994. Democrats dubbed the document a 'pledge to special interests' and said they have no plans to release their own governing white paper."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will spend the day in New York City. He will meet at 11:15 a.m. ET with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, and will meet at 12:15 p.m. ET with President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón of Colombia. He will attend a 1 p.m. ET working luncheon with ASEAN leaders. He will attend a 3:15 p.m. ET Ministerial Meeting on Sudan. He will meet at 5 p.m. ET with President Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan. He will depart from New York at 6:55 p.m. ET, arrive at 7:45 p.m. ET at Andrews Air Force Base, and arrive back at the White House at 8 p.m. ET.
Topics: 2010 elections, Barack Obama, Chris Coons, DE-SEN, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, Joe Biden, Judicial nominees, Roundup
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
One-Seat Majority Is Democrats' Bottom Line
CQ reports: "Democrats have long acknowledged the challenges they face this fall. But with the economy still teetering and voters unhappy with Democratic leadership, many are privately conceding that the best Democrats can hope for may be razor-thin hold on the chamber. 'At the end of the day, all that matters is whether we control the majority ... that's the only thing that matters, and we have to set up an environment where our ultimate objective -- maintaining the majority -- is met,' said a Democratic leadership aide, who acknowledged that the party faces a 'very, very tough -- in many cases brutal -- election.'"
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will receive the presidential daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET, and will receive the economic daily briefing at 10:30 a.m. ET. They will meet at 11:10 a.m. ET with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and meet at 11:50 a.m. ET with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Obama and Biden will have lunch at 12:45 p.m. ET. Obama will meet at 1:15 p.m. ET with senior advisers. Obama and Biden will meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at 4:30 p.m. ET. (Ed. note: This item has been changed since a White House schedule update.)
Topics: 2010 elections, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, House '10, Joe Biden, John Boehner, Judicial nominees, Labor, Roundup
Supreme Court vacancy
Senate Confirms Kagan: Obama's Second SCOTUS Pick Approved
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan was confirmed as the newest Supreme Court justice today, with senators voting 63-37 to approve President Obama's second nominee to the high court. Her confirmation will put three women on the bench for the first time ever -- a statistic that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hailed as "real progress" on the Senate floor before his colleagues took the rare step of casting their votes from their desks.
The Democrats were nearly united in support, with only Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) voting "No." There were 5 Republicans who voted "Yes," breaking with the majority of their party.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: 2010 elections, Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Health care lawsuits
Sessions Challenges Kagan Over Health Care Reform Suits (VIDEO)
The Supreme Court building, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, the Caduceus, and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
We saw this one coming, but Sen. Jeff Sessions finally has given the most explicit description yet of why he thinks Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has a problem when it comes to health care reform.
Sessions (R-AL), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee (which is tasked with Kagan's nomination next Tuesday), is now suggesting that Kagan can't sit on the bench and decide on state challenges to health care reform because as solicitor general, she must have spoken with the Obama administration about the lawsuits.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Elena Kagan, Health care lawsuits, Jeff Sessions, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
Tea Party Targets Lindsey Graham Over Kagan
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Tea party activists are claiming victory over the one-week delay until Solicitor General Elena Kagan receives a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and one group is going after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as the most likely GOP "Yes" vote to confirm Kagan to the Supreme Court.
"This gives us more time and we must not fail. We must keep calling Senators and tell them to stop Kagan," Tea Party Nation wrote supporters in an email obtained by TPM Organizers misspelled Graham's name, then said he's "the most likely" to support Kagan's nomination.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Lindsey Graham, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy, Tea Party, Tea Party Express, Tea Party Nation
Supreme Court vacancy
Kagan: I'm Not A Socialist And Can't Remember All The Dumb Memos I Wrote
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)
The Senate Judiciary Committee today agreed to delay the vote to approve Solicitor General Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court for another week. Republicans argued -- as expected -- they needed more time to review the answers Kagan submitted to their questions for the record after her hearings earlier this month.
TPM read through the dozens of questions and answers so you don't have to. While most of the answers were a little, well, dry, we've collected the Top 5 most noteworthy below.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Elena Kagan, Jeff Sessions, Jon Kyl, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy, Tom Coburn
Supreme Court vacancy
Grilling Ms. Kagan -- The 7 Toughest Questioners At SCOTUS Hearings (VIDEO)
(Clockwise from top left) Senators Arlen Specter (D-PA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) question Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan (center, inset).
It wasn't quite a supreme grilling, but some of the Judiciary Committee's members were surprisingly tough on Solicitor General Elena Kagan this week. Although at first the Republicans spent their time deriding Thurgood Marshall as a so-called "activist judge," by day three they took up all the hot button social issues they had largely ignored in the first round of questions.
Since Kagan's testimony is complete -- Chairman Pat Leahy told her it was "The last time you'll ever have to be in a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee." -- TPM rounded up the toughest questioners. They might just surprise you, since some Democrats gave Kagan as hard a time as their colleagues across the aisle.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Arlen Specter, Chuck Grassley, Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Lindsey Graham, Russ Feingold, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy, Tom Coburn
Supreme Court vacancy
Kagan Dodges Gay Marriage Question (VIDEO)
kagan confirmation hearing with Grassley
Social issues were noticeably absent from the first round of questions at the confirmation hearings, but it's been abortion and gay marriage hour so far in round two. A telling exchange came between Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Elena Kagan as he asked her if states can decide marriage issues.
Kagan said she didn't want to talk about something that may very well appear before the Supreme Court. "I want to be extremely careful about this question and -- and not to in any way prejudge any case that might come before me," she said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Chuck Grassley, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Elena Kagan, Gay Marriage, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
What Culture Wars? Five Hot-Button Topics Lacking At Kagan Hearings
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and an anti-abortion protester.
Close watchers of Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings will notice that the Citizens United campaign finance decision and gun rights issues have been among the most frequent lines of discussion. But anyone familiar with earlier epic Supreme Court confirmation battles and the culture wars that groups claim they are fighting through the nomination process are probably left feeling a bit lacking this week.
TPM has been keeping track, and it's a little surprising how few times the Judiciary Committee has talked about major issues. The first questioning just wrapped up and it's on to round two. But here's a summary of what hasn't been discussed after three days and nearly 15 hours of testimony.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
Kagan Sounds More And More Like Safe Vote For Gun Rights
Handguns and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan
The first questions about gun rights during Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings today came not from Republicans -- who always attempt to make the Second Amendment an issue -- but from Democrats. Kagan quickly ended the line of inquiry by declaring citizens' rights to own guns as "settled law."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Dianne Feinstein, Elena Kagan, Gun rights, Judicial nominees, Patrick Leahy, Russ Feingold, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
Coburn Asks Kagan To 'Set A New Standard': Answer Questions! (VIDEO)
Coburn at Kagan confirmation hearing
Sen. Tom Coburn didn't mince words today when he acknowledged that Supreme Court confirmation hearings are often newsless snoozefests. Coburn (R-OK) said today during the Senate Judiciary Committee's opening session for Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination that the hearings can be a disservice to the nation since nominees just "dance" around their beliefs.
Coburn framed his request to Kagan that she "set a new standard where you really answer questions" around an appeal to her patriotism and a desire to change what many say is a broken process. "Why should we have this dance if we're not going to find out real answers about real issues about what you really believe?"
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Lindsey Graham, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy, Tom Coburn
Elena Kagan
Leahy: Conservative Judges Are The True Activists On Today's Court (VIDEO)
leahy, kagan confirmation hearing
In his opening statement in Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing today, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) took a moment to reflect on who he believes are the real activist judges on the Supreme Court. And his determination was, as one would expect, rather different than what Republicans would have Americans believe.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Patrick Leahy, Senate Democrats, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Snooze Or Surprising Sass? TPM's Guide To The Kagan Hearings
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan
Solicitor General Elena Kagan this afternoon will sit down before nineteen senators, dozens of snapping cameras and the entire political world, prepared to dodge questions rather than reveal any personal leanings and charm the Senate Judiciary Committee with her knowledge of Supreme Court precedent. Senators will talk (and talk), make political points about their own pet issues and milk their moments on a national stage.
There will be plenty of discussion of precedents, but if precedent is any indicator, Kagan's confirmation hearings will either be supremely boring or extremely interesting. We handicap the possibility of either, after the jump.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Elena Kagan, Jeff Sessions, Judicial nominees, Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
Clinton Library Releases Thousands Of Kagan Documents
Clinton-era Elena Kagan
The Clinton Library this afternoon released thousands of documents related to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's service on President Clinton's Domestic Policy Council in the 1990s, including memos related to hot-button issues of abortion and gays serving in the military.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have requested more information given that Kagan, currently the solicitor general of the United States, has no judicial record. She was dean of the Harvard Law School until she took the current job in the Obama administration. Her confirmation hearings begin June 28.
The documents can be found here.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
Here Comes Kagan! Dems Mount PR Offensive With Hearings Starting Next Month
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan meets with (clockwise, from top left) Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
With the big Super Tuesday primary elections out of the way, the White House and the Democratic National Committee have mounted a public relations offensive to sell Supreme Court nominee Solicitor General Elena Kagan to voters and the senators tasked with her confirmation. Meanwhile, key Democrats are asking for more information on her record on abortion rights.
Judiciary Committee hearings will begin June 28, the panel announced today. It's an earlier start than ranking member Sen. Jeff Session (R-AL) had sought, and Leahy said he wants to wrap the hearings by July 4. Staffers from both parties are poring over Kagan's 202-page questionnaire detailing her record. Kagan herself has done a charm offensive while doing the standard in-person meetings with senators on Capitol Hill.
Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter, a co-chair of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, sent Leahy a letter asking for more information on the nominee's pro-choice stance. Slaughter (D-NY) argued that Kagan's position is relatively unknown given her lack of a judicial record.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Louise Slaughter, Organizing for America, Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Elena Kagan
Judiciary Committee Releases Questionnaire For SCOTUS Nominee Elena Kagan
Solictor General Elena Kagan
The Senate Judiciary Committee has released the questionnaire it has prepared for the Supreme Court nomination hearing of Solicitor General Elena Kagan.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Elena Kagan, Judicial nominees, Supreme Court
Supreme Court vacancy
It's Kagan -- Obama Makes Supreme Court Selection
Solictor General Elena Kagan
President Obama Monday will officially nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, his second selection for the high court. Multiple news outlets and the Associated Press are reporting that Kagan, 50, is Obama's choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
She has never tried a case in court but was considered an early favorite for the job, causing intense speculation Friday as the White House defended her record and some publications said it was highly likely she'd be his pick. Kagan served as a clerk in the late 1980s for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and was a clerk for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. She worked at a private Washington law firm before taking a job in the Clinton administration.
Kagan is the first woman to hold the solicitor general post and until she took that position she was dean of Harvard Law School, also the first female to hold that job. Under her six-year tenure Kagan helped the law campus open new buildings and she updated the curriculum. She also was recognized for fundraising prowess. But Kagan banned military recruiters from campus, a sure lightning rod issue the GOP will focus on during her confirmation hearings.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Elena Kagan, John Paul Stevens, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Supreme Court vacancy
Supremely Speculative -- SCOTUS Talk Gets DC In A Lather
Eight of the nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices
President Obama is getting this close to making his Supreme Court selection to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, so we know what that means -- Washington is in a tizzy about when and how and who will be his choice.
Politico's Mike Allen set the Internet aflame this morning by reporting in his Playbook newsletter that the nomination would definitively come on Monday and with a strong suggestion it would be Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Is the report accurate? I asked the White House.
"In a word? No," an aide told me.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, John Paul Stevens, Judicial nominees, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy, White House
Supreme Court vacancy
Obama Nears Decision On Supreme Court Nominee
President Barack Obama reflects during a meeting in the Oval Office
President Obama is nearing the final stages of review for selecting a Supreme Court nominee, summoning candidates for in-person meetings, pulling more documentation and focusing on a handful of prospects for the vacancy. Congressional and White House sources told me they think it's possible there will be a nominee by the end of this week, but certainly in the coming two weeks.
For weeks the White House stressed the process was "very early" in, but aides said today that "it's moved along quite a bit in the last week." Obama's short-ish list of nine candidates (detailed here) hasn't expanded, but "he's not at a place where he's crossed people off the list," an administration official told me today.
"We're well into this. We're getting there," the official said.
Topics: Barack Obama, Judicial nominees, Nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy, White House
Supreme Court vacancy
White House: Obama Won't Make Cautious Court Pick Because GOP Will Oppose Whoever He Nominates
President Barack Obama
President Obama thinks Republicans will engage in a full battle over his Supreme Court nominee regardless of the person's ideological leanings, and in some ways "that realization is liberating for the president" to choose whomever he pleases, an administration official told TPMDC.
In comments that are at odds with the conventional wisdom about what Obama needs to do to make sure the Senate confirms his nominee to replace John Paul Stevens, a White House official involved in the confirmation process tells TPMDC that the President isn't taking a cautious approach to selecting a nominee. Despite having one less Democrat in the Senate than when Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed last year, the administration isn't limiting itself to reviewing only centrist candidates for the court vacancy, the official said.
"It doesn't matter who he chooses, there is going to be a big 'ol fight over it. So he doesn't have to get sidetracked by those sorts of concerns," the official told me. The GOP has attempted to obstruct "anything of consequence" put forth by the Obama administration since he took office, the official said. "The president is making this decision with a pretty clear view that whoever he chooses is going to provoke a strong reaction on the right," the official added.
The White House seems confident that because Democrats allowed votes on President George W. Bush's nominees, the 41 Senate Republicans won't stand in the way with the highly unusual judicial filibuster this year. After all, nine GOPers voted in favor of Sotomayor last summer in a relatively smooth fight for the president's first Supreme Court nominee. But this is a different year. Obama isn't just down one Democrat in the Senate, he's facing a frustrated electorate, a polarized nation and looming midterm elections that have Democrats from both chambers on the ropes.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Barack Obama, John Paul Stevens, Judicial Watch, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Health care lawsuits
Conservative SCOTUS Group: Health Care Lawsuits 'New Blood' For Confirmation Hearings
The U.S. Supreme Court building and President Barack Obama
Note to President Obama's future Supreme Court nominee: get ready for questions about whether it's legal to mandate health insurance coverage. Conservatives geared up for a fight on the confirmation of Obama's choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens are increasingly saying they want to make health care the big issue.
There is agitation on the far-right to push these state lawsuits challenging health care reform as the next litmus test for a nominee, especially given the looming midterm elections that are likely to be fought over the sweeping health care overhaul Democrats passed this spring.
"This is the new blood for this public policy battle," Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told me in a recent interview.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Health Care, Health care lawsuits, Judicial Watch, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Health Care
Graham: GOP Should Press SCOTUS Nominee On Health Care Constitutionality
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Add Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to the list of GOP Senators who think the constitutionality of health care reform should become an issue when President Obama picks a Supreme Court nominee.
"Sure you can ask about that," Graham told reporters off the Senate floor this afternoon, in response to a question from TPMDC. "Yeah, I think that'd be a good area to inquire in. But they're not going to be able to pre-judge a pending case."
Topics: Democrats, Health Care, Judicial nominees, Lindsey Graham, Patrick Leahy, Republicans, Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Tenthers
Supreme Court
Schumer To GOP: We're Going To Rev Up Confirmation Of Obama Judicial Nominees
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)--the third ranking Democrat in the Senate--says it's high time Republicans let all of President Obama's judicial nominees come to the floor for up-or-down votes. And if they use Obama's forthcoming nomination of a replacement for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens as an excuse to further delay lower court nominees, they should be prepared to work longer hours.
"We are going to stay in as long as it takes, even if it means nights, weekends, to get these nominees through," Schumer said at a press conference this morning. "Because it's just unpardonable, unexplainable, only the worst of motivations that's holding these judges up."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Judicial nominees, Supreme Court
Supreme Court vacancy
Top Judiciary GOPer Signals Health Care Could Be Next Court Nominee's Litmus Test
The U.S. Supreme Court building and President Barack Obama
Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee tasked with hearings for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, today offered a strong hint about the direction Republicans may take toward the president's choice.
Sessions (R-AL) used his statement to criticize Obama's "empathy" standard for selecting Sonia Sotomayor last year for the high court.
But one sentence especially stood out: "There is much at stake, as the court's interpretation of the Constitution in the coming years could significantly affect the implementation of domestic polices approved by the president and Congress over the past year."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Health care lawsuits, Jeff Sessions, Judicial nominees, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy, U.S. Supreme Court, White House
Supreme Court
Supreme Court Scramble! Both Sides Prepping For Possible Stevens Retirement
Eight of the nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices
Call it the Stevens Supreme Court Scramble -- both sides are preparing for the next confirmation battle royale, should Justice John Paul Stevens' strong hints in recent days that he'll soon retire pan out.
Law professors and congressional staffers who have handled confirmations tell me that Solicitor General Elena Kagan has a good chance of making the top of President Obama's short list again, as she did when Sonia Sotomayor got the nod last year. Obama was widely impressed with her during his round of selection meetings, and she has already been thoroughly vetted. She also has the advantage of having been confirmed to her current post last year with seven Republican votes.
"It would be hard for Republicans to explain how they voted to confirm her for solicitor general without hesitation but she is now unacceptable," UC Berkeley law professor Daniel Farber, who clerked for Stevens early in his career, told me in an interview.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Elena Kagan, John Paul Stevens, Judicial nominees, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, White House
Judicial nominees
DeMint's Hold On Obama Nominee Putting D.C. Court In 'Dire Situation'
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
D.C. Superior Court officials have warned that Sen. Jim DeMint's hold on President Obama's nominee for that bench could harm the court's ability to hear cases in the nation's capitol.
DeMint (R-SC) has said he is holding up Marisa Demeo's nomination to serve on the D.C. Superior Court because she has a "history of very leftist activism," the Legal Times (sub. req.) reported today.
"There are just a number of things that don't look like a fair and balanced approach that you'd like in a judge," DeMint told the Legal Times.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Jim DeMint, Judicial nominees
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