TPMDC Patrick Leahy
DOMA
Obama Officially Backs Measure To Repeal DOMA
President Barack Obama (D)
President Obama is officially backing legislation that would repeal the 1996 Defense Of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even for couples married under state law.
The President has "long called for a legislative appeal for the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on families," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at Tuesday's briefing.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, DOMA, Dianne Feinstein, Jay Carney, Kirsten Gillibrand, Patrick Leahy, White House
Chuck Grassley
Snowe, Hatch Poised To Take Top GOP Slots On Major Committees In January
Republicans didn't pick up the Senate last week. But they did pick up six seats and will have several new members coming to town next year, which means the committees will be rejiggered -- and the leaders of those committees will play the biennial game of musical chairs.
According to top aides, the reshuffling won't be too dramatic this time around. On any particular committee, Democrats adhere to a seniority system to determine who moves up the ladder. Republicans let the members choose who gets the top spot.
With that in mind, here's one likely reshuffling scenario.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Blanche Lincoln, Chris Dodd, Chuck Grassley, David Vitter, Finance Committee, Kenya, Kit Bond, Olympia Snowe, Orrin Hatch, Patrick Leahy, Patty Murray, Tim Johnson, Tom Harkin
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
Supreme Court
Leahy Floats Idea Of Bringing Former Justices Back To SCOTUS Bench
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and current Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer.
Sen. Patrick Leahy has been floating the idea of bringing former Supreme Court justices back to the bench to help decide cases where current justices might have conflicts of interest.
It's an intriguing concept in the very early idea stages, according Leahy's aides on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy (D-VT) raised the idea of legislation allowing for the SCOTUS switcharoo first in the National Journal and again in more detail to the Washington Post.
Of course, the former justices in question would be more likely to side with the court's liberals.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Elena Kagan, John Paul Stevens, Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court
Elena Kagan
Last Justice Standing: Kagan's Five Funniest Moments On Tuesday
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is a funny lady. Facing a somewhat skeptical Republican contingent on the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Kagan slayed 'em in the aisles with a nearly nonstop stream of sarcasm and wit.
There were a lot of important issues discussed yesterday, and a lot of digging into Kagan's legal philosophy. But the main takeaway from the first day of questions and answers for Kagan was the nominee's ability to knock 'em dead.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Arlen Specter, Elena Kagan, Herb Kohl, Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, Patrick Leahy, 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
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
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Sessions: 'It's Conceivable A Filibuster Might Occur' Against Kagan
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) did not rule out a filibuster against the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan. "I think the first thing we need to decide is, is she committed to the rule of law even if she may not like the law?" Sessions said. "Will she as a judge subordinate herself to the Constitution and keep her political views at bay? And then secondly, if things come out to indicate she's so far outside the mainstream, it's conceivable a filibuster might occur."
Leahy: If Obama Had Nominated Moses, Some Would Say He Hasn't Produced A Birth Certificate
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) joked that Republican lines have already been drawn against any Supreme Court nomination by President Obama: "It's reached the point that if [Obama] had nominated Moses the law giver, some would have said we can't have him because among other things he hasn't produced a birth certificate."
Topics: 2010 elections, Afghanistan, David Petraeus, Dianne Feinstein, Elena Kagan, Jack Reed, Jeff Sessions, John McCain, Leon Panetta, Lindsey Graham, Patrick Leahy, Roundup, Stanley McChrystal, Sunday Shows, Supreme Court, Supreme Court vacancy
Financial Reform
Wall Street Invite: Come Meet Privately With Congressmen Negotiating Financial Reform!
Wall Street
A small Wall Street securities firm has teamed up with a lobbyist for the financial services industry to host an all-day event on June 15 -- right in the middle of the conference committee negotiations over the financial reform bill -- that will feature "the KEY House and Senate Conferees and majority and minority Committee staff, as well as leading financial lobbyists covering interchange, banks and major non-banks affected by so-called Wall Street Reform bill," according to an invitation obtained by TPM.
The firm, JNK Securities Corp., declined to comment about the event.
The other firm helping to organize the event, according to the email invitation, is Federal Advisory LLC. The registered agent for Federal Advisory LLC is Tim Rupli, according to Virginia corporation records. Rupli is a former aide to Tom DeLay and now a high-powered Republican lobbyist for the payday lending industry and the community banks trade association, among other clients.
Reached last week, Rupli declined to be interviewed, but suggested that the event may not take place after all. He hung up before elaborating.
While the invitation says the event will be on Capitol Hill, it doesn't not specify the exact venue. Rupli's Capitol Hill townhouse on New Jersey Avenue within easy walking distance of the House office buildings next to the Capitol, has been the frequent venue for fund-raising receptions, ranking as the 10th most popular congressional partying spot of 2008.
Topics: Democrats, Financial Reform, Patrick Leahy, Senate, Tom Harkin, Wall Street
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
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Kyl: I Don't Think Kagan Represents 'Extreme Circumstances' For Filibuster
Appearing on Face The Nation, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said that Elena Kagan's nomination for the Supreme Court would not be filibustered. "I don't think so," he said. "The filibuster should be relegated to the extreme circumstances, and I don't think Elena Kagan represents that."
Feinstein Dismisses 'Gingrich Hyperbole'
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) rebutted former Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-GA) call for the Senate to oppose Elena Kagan's nomination on the grounds that she is "disqualified from the very beginning" due to her policies on military recruiters at Harvard. Feinstein called it "nonsense. I think it's Gingrich hyperbole. I hope no one would fall for that."
Topics: Arizona, Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Elena Kagan, Filibuster, Immigration, Jan Brewer, Jeff Sessions, Jon Kyl, Mitch McConnell, Patrick Leahy, Roundup, Sarah Palin, Sunday Shows
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
• CNN, State Of The Union: Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT).
• Fox News Sunday: Former First Lady Laura Bush, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Arlen Specter, Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Jeff Sessions, Joe Sestak, Jon Kyl, Laura Bush, Mitch McConnell, Newt Gingrich, PA-SEN, Patrick Leahy, Senate '10, Sunday Shows
Supreme Court
Leahy: Obama Could've Nominated Moses, And Republicans Would Be Asking For His Birth Certificate
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Sometimes it's just too easy. In the course of defending the record of Supreme Court Nominee Elana Kagan at a press conference today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy broadsided Republicans, who, he said, could find a reason to oppose even the purest of nominees.
"We have some Republicans who would automatically oppose anybody who was nominated," Leahy said. "The President could nominate Moses the Law Giver. In fact I told the President, I said you realize if you'd nominated Moses the Law Giver, somebody would raise, 'but he doesn't have a birth certificate! Where's his birth certificate!'"
Leahy dismissed both conservative and liberal critiques of Kagan, trumpeting her experience outside the judiciary, and highlighting her years of scholarship. "It would be hard to find people in this country who would stand out as a greater legal scholar than she does," Leahy insisted. "She will be confirmed." Kagan's critics, particularly her liberal ones, have focused on her thin publishing history as an academic, and her substantive political views remain a mystery even to long-time friends.
In fairness to Republicans, they'd also likely characterize Moses as a judicial activist who foisted Ten Commandments on the people.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Democrats, Elena Kagan, Patrick Leahy, Republicans, Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court
Supreme Court vacancy
Obama Seeking Nominee In Stevens Mold And Asking Senate Leaders For Their View
President Barack Obama meets bi-partisan U.S. Senate Leaders
President Obama, already speaking with potential Supreme Court picks, today will huddle with key members of the Judiciary Committee tasked with confirmation hearings for his future nominee.
Administration aides tell me he'll solicit their ideas for names he should add to his (longish) short list for consideration, and that Obama will tell members he wants the schedule for his nominee to be just as speedy as the one they followed last spring with Sonia Sotomayor.
A White House official told me that Obama is looking for someone "with a similar set of skills" to Justice John Paul Stevens, known for his ability to win over the other justices using compelling arguments and never backing down from a fight. The official said a nominee with a political background, such as a governor, would have the skills that could help build "a constructive 5-person majority and not just write articulate dissents."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Jeff Sessions, John Paul Stevens, Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, 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
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Leahy: Current Supreme Court: 'Most Activist Court In My Lifetime'
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) took aim at Republican rhetoric about the Supreme Court, with Leahy charging that the current conservative court are the activist judges: "This is a very, very activist court, the most activist court in my lifetime. They rewrote the law to say that--so they said that women could be paid less than men. They rewrote the law to say that age discrimination laws won't apply if corporate interests don't want them to. They rewrote the law to give ExxonMobil a $2 billion windfall. And they rewrote the law to say that corporations could come in and meddle in elections in this, in this country."
Sessions: GOP Would Filibuster Somebody Like Goodwin Liu
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Jeff Sessions was asked about the possibility of a filibuster of the upcoming Supreme Court nominee: "I promise a fair hearing, and I, I promise that the nominee will have a chance to explain any criticisms that are raised. But if a nominee is, is one that is so activist like Goodwin Liu that's just been nominated, who's written that, that the Constitution requires welfare and health care to individuals, if it's somebody like that, clearly outside the mainstream, then I think every power should be utilized to protect the Constitution. We'll not confirm somebody like that."
Topics: Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, Hillary Clinton, Jeff Sessions, Joe Lieberman, Jon Kyl, Patrick Leahy, Robert Gates, Roundup, Sarah Palin, Saturday Night Live, Sunday Shows, Supreme Court, Tina Fey
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
• CNN, State Of The Union: Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS).
• Fox News Sunday: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Chuck Schumer, Haley Barbour, Hillary Clinton, Jeff Sessions, Joe Lieberman, Jon Kyl, Lamar Alexander, Michele Bachmann, Patrick Leahy, Robert Gates, Sunday Shows
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
WaPo: Obama To Help Select Location Of KSM Terrorism Trial
The Washington Post reports that President Obama will become involved in the selection of a site for trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: "Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department. But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET, and the economic daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET. He will meet with senior advisers at 10:30 a.m. ET. He does not have any public events scheduled for today.
Topics: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bob Corker, Chris Dodd, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Patrick Leahy, Questiontime, Recess appointments, Roundup
Health Care
Leahy To Introduce Amendment To Repeal Insurers' Anti-trust Exemption
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced today that he will introduce an amendment to the Senate health care reform bill that will repeal the anti-trust exemption granted to health insurers.
"This amendment will prohibit the most egregious anticompetitive conduct - price fixing, bid rigging and market allocations - conduct that harms consumers, raises health care costs, and for which there is no justification," Leahy said in a statement. Leahy had also introduced a separate bill repealing the exemption in September.
The House version of the bill also has a provision to end the exemption.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Antitrust Exemption, Health Care, Patrick Leahy
Health Care
Senate Debates Historic Health Care Bill
Sen. McConnell (R-KY) Sen. Reid (D-NV)
We'll be following today's proceedings live from the U.S. Capitol, gavel-to-gavel. Check in all day for breaking updates.
Topics: Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, Harry Reid, Health Care, Jeff Sessions, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, Max Baucus, Mitch McConnell, Patrick Leahy, Public Option, Robert Byrd, Senate
Guantanamo Bay
Senate Defeats Inhofe Amendment On Gitmo Detainee Transfer
The Senate this afternoon defeated an amendment aimed at the Obama administration's efforts to transfer detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) had tried to attach an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act that would have blocked money for building or modifying prisons to hold Gitmo detainees.
The Senate killed the Inhofe amendment in a 57-43 vote hailed by the ACLU. All 40 Republicans were joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both Democrats from Arkansas.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Eric Holder, Guantanamo Bay, James Inhofe, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Patrick Leahy, White House
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
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."
Topics: Abortion, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, David Axelrod, Health Care, Hillary Clinton, Jack Reed, Kent Conrad, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Patrick Leahy, Pete Hoekstra, Roundup, Rudy Giuliani, Stupak amendment, Sunday Shows
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Hillary Clinton, Sec. of State
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
• CBS, Face The Nation: Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
• CNN, State Of The Union: White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod; Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH); Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT).
• Fox News Sunday: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• NBC, Meet The Press: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Rev. Al Sharpton.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Arne Duncan, Brain Schweitzer, David Axelrod, Hillary Clinton, Judd Gregg, Kent Conrad, Mitch McConnell, Newt Gingrich, Patrick Leahy, Pete Hoekstra, Sunday Shows
Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor Vote Delayed Until July 28
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Jeff Sessions, Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, Susan Collins, U.S. Supreme Court
Sonia Sotomayor
Leahy To Conservatives: It Would Be Wrong To Use Today's Decision To Criticize Sotomayor
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Patrick Leahy, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Patrick Leahy
Sotomayor Hearing Scheduled For July 13
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."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Supreme Court
Miranda: My Call For Filibuster Actually A Call For "Great Debate"
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Patrick Leahy
Leahy: Sotomayor Hearings Will Come Earlier If Racially Charged Smears Continue
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor
Leahy Meets With Sotomayor Tomorrow
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Sonia Sotomayor
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
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."
Topics: Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Jeff Sessions, Mitch McConnell, Patrick Leahy, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Sonia Sotomayor
Leahy To 'Work With Sessions' To Confirm Sotomayor
"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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Patrick Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Barack Obama
Leahy On Souter: Senators Should Unify Around Souter Replacement
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, Patrick Leahy, Republicans, Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court
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