Roundup

TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | November 15, 2009, 1:14PM

Axelrod: Obama Opposed To Bill With Stupak Amendment
Appearing on State of the Union, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said that President Obama would oppose the Stupak Amendment as a change in the status quo on abortion law. "The president has said repeatedly, and he said in his speech to Congress, that he doesn't believe that this bill should change the status quo as it relates to the issue of abortion," said Axelrod. Asked whether Obama would sign a final bill that contains the Stupak Amendment, Axelrod replied that Obama "believes both these issues and can and will be worked through before [the final bill] reaches his desk."

Conrad: Health Care Bill Can't Pass Without Restriction On Abortion Funding
Appearing on State of the Union, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) said that the health care bill cannot pass without something like the Stupak Amendment. "What is clear is at the end of the day, for this bill to be successful, that there cannot be taxpayer funding of abortion," said Conrad, also adding: "It was clear in the House. It'll be clear in the Senate."

Read more »

Sonia Sotomayor

Sotomayor Vote Delayed Until July 28

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2009, 11:45AM

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court on July 28, a week from today. The vote was originally scheduled for today, but Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) granted a delay request made by Republicans.

Leahy reportedly said he was disappointed in the stall, but still expects her to be on the bench for the Supreme Court's fall session. Sen. Jeff Sessions, the committee's ranking Republican, said he expects Sotomayor to be confirmed by early August.

In other news, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has announced she will vote for Sotomayor's confirmation. She is the fourth Republican to do so, after Olympia Snowe, Richard Lugar and Mel Martinez.

Sonia Sotomayor

Leahy To Conservatives: It Would Be Wrong To Use Today's Decision To Criticize Sotomayor

Brian Beutler | June 29, 2009, 12:23PM

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)--chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee--is out with a statement criticizing the Supreme Court's opinion in Ricci v. DeStefano and warning conservatives not to wield it as a cudgel against Sonia Sotomayor. "It would be wrong to use today's decision to criticize Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who sat on the panel of the Second Circuit that heard this case but did not write its unanimous opinion," Leahy said.

Judge Sotomayor and the lower court panel did what judges are supposed to do, they followed precedent. It is notable that four justices would have upheld the Second Circuit's ruling, including the retiring Justice Souter, who Judge Sotomayor is nominated to replace. The dissent concludes: "This Court has repeatedly emphasized that [Title VII] 'should not be read to thwart' efforts at voluntary compliance.. . . The strong-basis-in-evidence standard, however, as barely described in general, and cavalierly applied in this case, makes voluntary compliance a hazardous venture."

You can read his entire statement below the fold.

Read more »

Patrick Leahy

Sotomayor Hearing Scheduled For July 13

Brian Beutler | June 9, 2009, 12:24PM

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced on the Senate floor today that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on July 13. In an effort to head off expected criticisms, Leahy noted that this proposed time line mirrors that of Chief Justice John Roberts, whose entire confirmation process took about two months. "This is a schedule that tracks the process the Senate followed by bipartisan agreement in considering President Bush's nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court in 2005," Leahy said.

That agreement was reached before the Committee received the answers to the bipartisan questionnaire, and before the Committee had received any of the 75,000 pages of documents from his years working in Republican administrations. If 48 days were sufficient to prepare for that hearing, in accordance with our agreement and the initial schedule, it is certainly adequate time to prepare for the confirmation hearing for Judge Sotomayor.

Sotomayor provided the committee with answers to its questionnaire last week. Now the question is how amenable Republicans will be to this announcement. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. "There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this well-qualified nominee," Leahy said. "Indeed, given the attacks on her character, there are compelling reasons to proceed even ahead of this schedule. She deserves the earliest opportunity to respond to those attacks."

Supreme Court

Miranda: My Call For Filibuster Actually A Call For "Great Debate"

Brian Beutler | June 2, 2009, 6:16PM

Earlier today we brought you a letter signed by conservative Manuel Miranda and dozens of other activists calling for Republicans to consider a filibuster of Sonia Sotomayor. On Hardball tonight, though, Manuel Miranda characterized things a bit differently.

A "great debate" (followed by a sixty vote requirement for confirmation. Cough.) Chris Matthews insisted that what Miranda and other Sotomayor critics really want is to slow her confirmation process down, but Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, said he'd speed the confirmation process up if the unfair attacks continue.

Patrick Leahy

Leahy: Sotomayor Hearings Will Come Earlier If Racially Charged Smears Continue

Brian Beutler | June 2, 2009, 3:42PM

Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL)--the chair and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee respectively--may disagree about the overall timeline for the Sotomayor confirmation process. But now Leahy says if the Republicans want Democrats to speed the process along, all they have to do is keep smearing Sotomayor.

Tom Tancredo and Newt Gingrich aren't really the kind of people who acquiesce to this type of threat, but let's see what happens.

Sonia Sotomayor

Leahy Meets With Sotomayor Tomorrow

Brian Beutler | June 1, 2009, 5:55PM

The Sotomayor confirmation process moves forward, however slowly, tomorrow when she meets with Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The two will host a photo op in Leahy's Senate office building at 11:30 and Leahy will brief the press after the meeting at noon.

Last week, the committee sent Sotomayor a broad questionnaire in anticipation of her coming confirmation hearing.

Sonia Sotomayor

TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | May 31, 2009, 1:00PM

Cornyn Not Ruling Out Filibuster Against Sotomayor
Appearing on ABC's This Week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) would not rule out a filibuster against the Sotomayor nomination. "I'm not willing to judge one way or the other, George [Stephanopoulos]," said Cornyn, "because frankly, we need to not prejudge, not pre-confirm, and to give Judge Sotomayor the fair hearing that Miguel Estrada, and, indeed, Clarence Thomas were denied by our friends on the other side of the aisle."

Rove: Bush Appreciates Cheney's "Forthright Defense"
Karl Rove told the Politico that former President George W. Bush -- who has publicly said he won't criticize President Obama -- privately appreciates the role that former Vice President Dick Cheney has taken on. "I know President Bush and Vice President Cheney talk with regularity," said Rove. "I know the former president appreciates Dick's forthright defense of the administration's polices. And I know Vice President Cheney understands the special role that the former president occupies."

Read more »

Sonia Sotomayor

Leahy To 'Work With Sessions' To Confirm Sotomayor

Brian Beutler | May 26, 2009, 10:39AM

"I will work closely with Senator Sessions as the Judiciary Committee prepares for confirmation hearings," says Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy about the Sotomayor nomination. "We are committed to ensuring that the next Justice is seated before the Court's term begins in October. I hope all Senators will treat this nominee fairly and will respect the Committee's confirmation process."

That's the ultimate question, right. Fortunately for Leahy, Sessions, and several other Republicans have a long record of opposing obstruction of judicial nominees, and Supreme Court nominees in particular. Unfortunately for Leahy, those sorts of records tend not to matter at all. Full Leahy statement below the fold.

For what it's worth, Sessions voted against her confirmation to the appeals court in 1998, but the question for now is whether the Republicans will filibuster her nomination, and whether Sessions will participate.

Read more »

Barack Obama

Leahy On Souter: Senators Should Unify Around Souter Replacement

Brian Beutler | May 1, 2009, 3:55PM

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released a statement on the news of the retirement of Supreme Court David Souter. In it, he urges In exercising their important roles in the confirmation of the next Supreme Court Justice senators to "unify around the shared constitutional values that will define Justice Souter's legacy on the Court" when they consider Barack Obama's eventual nominee.

Leahy's full statement below the jump. Other than the President himself, he is the person who, most and earliest, will have to deal with any Republican attempts to block Obama's pick.

Read more »