Leahy Welcomes End To Judicial Nominations Impasse

WASHINGTON (Tues., May 18) -- U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, welcomed the agreement reached Tuesday between the Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and the White House that ended the stalemate on judicial nominations.  Democrats in the Senate had refused action on all nominees after President Bush twice circumvented the Senate’s constitutional role of advice and consent on nominees by installing two federal appellate judges through recess appointments even though their nominations were defeated under the Senate’s Rules.  As part of the agreement, the White House promised to cease any further recess appointments of judicial nominees allowing the Senate to move forward on 25 noncontroversial nominees.  A list of the noncontroversial nominees as well as the text of Leahy’s statement from Tuesday follows.]

Senator Of Senator Patrick Leahy
Statement On The Accord To Break Judicial Nominations Stalemate
May 18, 2004

With today’s confirmation vote on Marcia Cooke to the U.S. District Court in Florida, the Senate has already confirmed 174 judicial nominees of President George W. Bush in three and one-half years and blocked only a handful of the most extreme.  Due to Democratic cooperation and bipartisanship, the Senate has confirmed more judges for this President than in President Ronald Reagan's entire first four years in office -- and it was President Reagan who ultimately appointed more judges than any other president in U.S. history.  In fact, we have cooperated in reducing the 110 vacancies we inherited from Republican obstruction of President Clinton’s judicial nomination to near 40 and attained the lowest vacancy level in 14 years. 

Today, Senator Daschle and the White House reached an agreement regarding 25 of this President’s judicial nominations pending on the floor, including Judge Cooke.  Not all of these nominees are uncontroversial and some may require significant debate before their confirmation vote.  With this agreement, the Senate is poised to confirm 198 judicial nominees of President Bush for lifetime positions on the federal courts, including 35 circuit court nominees. 

We have already confirmed 30 circuit court nominees of President Bush.  More of his circuit nominees have been confirmed than President Reagan had confirmed by this point in his first term.  Recall that from the time Republicans assumed majority control of the Senate in 1995 until Democratic control in the summer of 2001, circuit court vacancies more than doubled from 16 to 33.  We have worked to cut those vacancies in half through confirming 30 of President Bush’s circuit court nominees.  With five additional circuit court nominees part of the agreement, President Bush will exceed the number of circuit court appointments during President Reagan’s first term and President Clinton’s first term.    

Republicans rarely acknowledge that 100 of 174 Bush nominees to the bench who have been confirmed so far were confirmed under Democratic control of the Senate during 17 months.  During the 22 months I have not served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Republicans have been in control, the Senate has confirmed 74 additional judges.  So in 30 percent more time, Senate Republicans have confirmed 26 percent fewer judges.  

With the agreement reached today, the Senate will confirm a total of 29 judicial nominees of President Bush this year, including five circuit court nominees.  With the progress we have already made this year and under the action agreed to today, the Senate will reach this mark before the July 4^th recess.  This is 29 times more judicial nominees than were allowed to be confirmed by Republicans before July during the session in which an incumbent president was seeking reelection.  During that session, Senate Republicans did not allow a single judicial nominee of President Clinton’s to be confirmed before July of 1996, and for the remainder of that year, Republicans allowed only 17 judicial nominees to be confirmed, none of them for the circuit courts.  During that session when Republicans were in control of the Senate they made sure that none of President Clinton’s circuit court nominees were confirmed all session, not a single one.  Even with five judicial confirmations so far this year, we are well ahead of 1996.   Republicans have made no apology for the way in which they acted in 1996 but seek to employ a double standard now that a Republican occupies the White House.  Today’s agreement is further evidence that the charges of Democratic obstructionism are empty accusations launched for partisan gain.     

All told, Republicans blocked more than 60 of President Clinton’s judicial nominees.  Yet Republicans Senators now routinely come to this floor and claim that every judicial nominee of President Bush is entitled to a confirmation vote.  Suddenly, without regard to history, including their own very recent history, they claim that the Constitution requires a confirmation vote, at least for Republican nominees.  The Constitution certainly does not say that.  Republicans seem to have "confirmation amnesia" when they complain that Senate Democrats have filibustered six judicial nominees of President Bush after Republicans defeated by delay 10 times more judicial nominees of President Clinton through anonymous holds and without accountability.

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The List of 25 Nominees:  

4/1/04               Peter W. Hall, 2^nd Circuit                                  

3/4/04               Franklin van Antwerpen, 3^rd Circuit                   

3/4/04               Raymond W. Gruender, 8^th Circuit                     

4/29/04             William Duane Benton, 8^th Circuit                      

3/11/04             Diane S. Sykes, 7^th Circuit                                

3/27/03             J. Leon Holmes, USDC ED AR                        

10/30/03            Dora Irizarry, USDC ED NY                            

3/4/04               William Duffey, ND GA                                   

3/4/04               Gene E. K. Pratter, ED PA                              

3/4/04               Ricardo S. Martinez, WD WA                          

3/4/04               Virginia Hopkins, USDC ND AL                      

3/4/04               Kenneth Karas, USDC SD NY                         

3/4/04               Sandra Townes USDC ED NY                         

3/4/04               Judith Herrera USDC D NM                                  

3/4/04               F. Dennis Saylor USDC D MA                         

3/11/04             Lawrence Stengel, ED PA                                

3/11/04             James Robart, WD WA                                    

3/11/04             Juan R. Sanchez, ED PA                                  

4/1/04               Roger Benitez, SD CA                                     

4/1/04               Walter Kelley, ED VA                                     

4/1/04               Jane J. Boyle, ND TX                                      

4/1/04               Marcia G. Cooke, SD FL                                    CONFIRMED.

4/1/04               Paul S. Diamond, ED PA                                  

4/29/04             Robert Bryan Harwell, D SC                            

4/29/04             George P. Schiavelli, CD CA                            

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