DOCSLIB.ORG

Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 112 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 112 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 112 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 158 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012 No. 106 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, at 12 noon. Senate MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012 The Senate met at 2 p.m., and was The legislative clerk read the fol- The legislative clerk read as follows: called to order by the Honorable CHRIS- lowing letter: Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 446, S. TOPHER A. COONS, a Senator from the U.S. SENATE, 3369, a bill to amend the Federal Election State of Delaware. PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for addi- Washington, DC, July 16, 2012. tional disclosure requirements of corpora- PRAYER To the Senate: tions, labor organizations, super PACs, and The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, other entities, and for other purposes. of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby fered the following prayer: SCHEDULE appoint the Honorable CHRISTOPHER A. Mr. REID. Mr. President, at 5 p.m., Let us pray. COONS, a Senator from the State of Dela- Eternal God, who keeps us in Your ware, to perform the duties of the Chair. the Senate will proceed to executive love, forgive us when we give our best DANIEL K. INOUYE, session to consider the nomination of to the wrong things. Keep us from be- President pro tempore. Kevin McNulty to be United States coming annoyed and angry about Mr. COONS thereupon assumed the District Judge for the District of New things which in our calmer moments chair as Acting President pro tempore. Jersey. At 5:30 p.m., there will be two rollcall we know do not matter. Give our law- f makers this day the wisdom to know votes. The first vote will be on con- what is important and what is unim- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY firmation of the McNulty nomination. portant so they will never forget the LEADER There will then be 10 minutes of debate things that truly matter. Help them, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- prior to a cloture vote on the motion Lord, to never let the things that do pore. The majority leader is recog- to proceed to the DISCLOSE Act. not matter to matter too much. Give nized. MEASURE PLACED ON THE CALENDAR—H.R. 6079 them in all their duties Your help, in Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am told all their perplexities Your guidance, the absence of a quorum. H.R. 6079 is at the desk and due for a and in all their dangers Your protec- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- second reading. tion. pore. The clerk will call the roll. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- We pray in Your great Name. Amen. The legislative clerk proceeded to pore. The clerk will read the bill by f call the roll. title for the second time. Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unan- The legislative clerk read as follows: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE imous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. A bill (H.R. 6079) to repeal the Patient Pro- The Honorable CHRISTOPHER A. COONS tection and Affordable Care Act and health led the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- care-related provisions in the Health Care I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the pore. Without objection, it is so or- and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. dered. United States of America, and to the Repub- Mr. REID. I now object to any fur- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, f ther proceedings on this matter. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. DISCLOSE ACT OF 2012—MOTION TO The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- f PROCEED pore. Objection is heard. The bill will APPOINTMENT OF ACTING Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move be placed on the calendar under rule PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE to proceed to Calendar No. 446, S. 3369, XIV. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The the DISCLOSE Act. THE DISCLOSE ACT clerk will please read a communication The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Mr. REID. Mr. President, Thomas to the Senate from the President pro pore. The clerk will report the bill by Jefferson, one of our greatest Presi- tempore (Mr. INOUYE). title. dents, once said, ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S4985 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 01:34 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A16JY6.000 S16JYPT1 jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S4986 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 16, 2012 The end of democracy . will occur when Yet my Republican colleagues, with economic recovery in modern times, government falls into the hands of lending rare exception, have lined up against and just 51⁄2 months away from the cul- institutions and moneyed corporations. this commonsense legislation. Their mination of tax hikes and spending Campaign finance reform protections newfound opposition to transparency cuts already being referred to around we have in place—and have had for makes one wonder who they are trying the world as America’s fiscal cliff, Sen- many years—have solved the problem to protect. Perhaps Republicans want ate Democrats want us to waste our Jefferson talked about by limiting po- to shield a handful of billionaires will- time on the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that litical spending by corporations. Then ing to contribute nine figures to sway has only two discernible purposes: to out of nowhere came the Supreme a close Presidential election. create the impression of mischief Court to issue its Citizens United opin- If this flood of outside money con- where there is none, and to send a sig- ion, rolling back a century of work to tinues, the day after the election 17 nal to unions that Democrats are just make elections transparent and cred- angry old White men will wake up and as eager to do their legislative bidding ible. realize they have just bought the coun- as ever. The result of Citizens United has try. That is a sad commentary. About Think about it. We have had 41 been a flood of corporate, special-inter- 60 percent or more of these outside dol- straight months of unemployment est campaign spending by shadowy lars are coming from these 17 people. above 8 percent. It has been more than front groups with questionable mo- These donors have something in com- 3 years since the Democratic Senate tives. Not since the days of Teddy Roo- mon with their nominee. Like Mitt passed a budget, but this is what they sevelt, a Republican who put a stop to Romney, they believe they play by want to do. unlimited corporate donations, has their own set of rules. Mitt Romney For months Republicans have been America seen this kind of out-of-con- has refused to release his tax returns. I urging Democrats to do something trol spending to influence elections. think everybody in America now about the approaching fiscal cliff now, Democrats and the majority of Amer- knows that. From the one and only re- before it is too late. The American peo- icans believe the Supreme Court got it turn we have seen, we know Mitt Rom- ple don’t expect us to see every crisis very wrong with Citizens United. Anon- ney pays a lower tax rate than most that comes around the corner, but they ymous spending by so-called non- middle-class families. We know he has should be able to expect us to do some- profits, often backed by huge corporate a Swiss bank account. We know he thing about the problems we do see and donors or a few wealthy individuals, takes advantage of tax shelters in the that we know are coming. Yet last used to make up 1 percent of election Cayman Islands and tax shelters in week President Obama signaled that he spending. This year it will make up Bermuda. But we can only guess what and his campaign advisers think it is well over half of the spending. There is new secrets would be revealed if we good politics to keep the threat of no question Citizens United opened the could examine a dozen years of his tax these looming tax hikes on everyone door for big corporations and foreign returns. His father, George Romney, right on the table as supposed leverage entities to secretly spend hundreds of set the standard for Presidential elec- in an effort to raise taxes on nearly 1 millions of dollars to influence elec- tions. He released 12 years of tax re- million business owners right now. tions and undermine the fairness and turns so Americans could evaluate his As the Washington Post reported this integrity of the process. Let us look at record for themselves. His son should morning, not only do Democrats in Nevada. Through the first part of this also let his records out so we can Congress agree with him, they are year, more money has been spent per evaluate his record for ourselves. ready and willing to go right off the capita on TV ads in Nevada than in any Even nominees for Cabinet posts are fiscal cliff if they don’t get their way. required to release 3 years of tax re- other State in the country. Most of the In their near fanatical crusade to in- turns and declare financial holdings ads have been funded by anonymous flict even more pain on American busi- worth more than $1,000.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download Download
    President Trump’s Appointments: A Policy of Activism di Paolo Passaglia Abstract: Le nomine del Presidente Trump: una policy caratterizzata dall’attivismo – The paper examines some of the most relevant features of President Trump’s appointments, with reference to the highest ranks of the executive branch, ambassadors, and federal judiciary. The aim of the analysis is to demonstrate that President Trump’s term had a profound impact on the appointment power of the President of the United States. A special attention is given to the way in which President Trump, thanks to his appointments, reshaped the federal judiciary. Keywords: Presidential Appointments; Activism; Cabinet; Ambassadors; Federal Judiciary. 927 1. Introduction According to Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, of the Constitution (the so-called Appointments Clause), the President of the United States is empowered to appoint a wide range of public officials. Depending on the level of the officials, the appointment process requires either the “advice and consent” of the Senate or, simply, an individual decision by the President him/herself. Among the officials whom the President is entitled to appoint, the most significant positions within the Executive and the Judiciary are established either by the Constitution or by legislation.1 Due to its scope, the power of appointment is one of the most significant powers to define a President, not only in relation to the immediate impact of his or her policies but also with regard to his or her capacity to influence the public apparatus
    [Show full text]
  • How the Political Red Lines Disappeared: a Modern History of American Democratic Norm Decline
    Wesleyan University The Honors College How the Political Red Lines Disappeared: A Modern History of American Democratic Norm Decline by Peter Wallace Dunphy Class of 2018 A thesis submitted to the faculty of Wesleyan University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors in Government and American Studies Middletown, Connecticut April, 2018 1 “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” - Richard Nixon 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hillary Clinton once said it takes a village to raise a child. I think it took closer to a metropolis to write this thesis. I would be remiss if I did not first thank Professor Logan Dancey for serving as my thesis advisor. The most rewarding part of writing a thesis was cultivating an intellectual relationship with Professor Dancey. Thank you for providing me with academic, professional, and emotional encouragement throughout this year-long process. If anyone high up in the Government Department is reading this, I hope this serves as a strong recommendation to give Professor Dancey tenure. Throughout the year, I also had the immense pleasure of working with the Congressional Politics and Elections Lab to workshop theses and independent research. This group of fantastic scholars, Emma Solomon, Carly King, Tess Counts, and Sam Prescott, both provided incredible feedback while also serving as a fantastic way to spend every Tuesday night. Appreciation beyond words must be given to Frank Tucci, who has continued to support me throughout this entire endeavor, no matter how annoying it must have been to hear me talk about democratic norms for an entire year.
    [Show full text]
  • A Delicate Balance of Life Tenure and Independence: Conditional Resignations from the Federal Bench Allison A
    Marquette Law Review Volume 93 Issue 1 Symposium: International Media and Conflict Article 18 Resolution A Delicate Balance of Life Tenure and Independence: Conditional Resignations from the Federal Bench Allison A. Luczak Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr Part of the Law Commons Repository Citation Allison A. Luczak, A Delicate Balance of Life Tenure and Independence: Conditional Resignations from the Federal Bench, 93 Marq. L. Rev. 309 (2009). Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol93/iss1/18 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A DELICATE BALANCE OF LIFE TENURE AND INDEPENDENCE: CONDITIONAL RESIGNATIONS FROM THE FEDERAL BENCH I. INTRODUCTION [T]he judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power; . it can never attack with success either of the other two; and . all possible care is requisite to enable it to defend itself against their attacks. Alexander Hamilton1 In a letter dated October 4, 2007, Judge John C. Shabaz of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin submitted a letter of resignation2 to President George W. Bush.3 The letter states: Please be advised that under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 371(b)(1) I shall assume senior status effective when your nominee appointee, my successor, is confirmed by the United States Senate and on the date of your subsequent appointment on or before January 20, 2009.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward a Feminist Political Theory of Judging: Neither the Nightmare Nor the Noble Dream
    17 NEV. L.J. 549, KENNEY - FINAL.DOCX 5/10/17 1:34 PM TOWARD A FEMINIST POLITICAL THEORY OF JUDGING: NEITHER THE NIGHTMARE NOR THE NOBLE DREAM Sally J. Kenney* I am honored to offer some thoughts about feminist judging on the occa- sion of the publication of The Feminist Judgments Project.1 It is also an honor to be in the great state of Florence Allen2 whom, as I have written,3 but for her intimate partner choice of another woman, might have been our first woman Supreme Court justice. I write as a political scientist among legal academics. My most recent work has focused on women judges and, in particular, the ef- forts of social movements to increase their number. I have worked with women judges from Tbilisi, Georgia, to Cairo, Egypt, to Nairobi, Kenya. And from Minnesota and the Eighth Circuit (with the lowest percentage of women judg- es) to the great state of Louisiana in the Fifth Circuit (with the highest percent- age of women judges). The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, Bernette Joshua Johnson, is an African-American woman. Standing in front of the statue of Chief Justice Edward White, who joined the majority in Plessy v. Ferguson, Louisiana’s former Attorney General, Buddy Caldwell, said at Justice John- son’s investiture, “it’s one for the anals [sic] of history.”4 As one who has stud- ied women judges worldwide; worked to secure confirmation of President * Sally J. Kenney is the Newcomb College Endowed Chair, the Director of the Newcomb College Institute, a Professor of Political Science, and an affiliated faculty member of the Law School at Tulane University.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of Judicial Appointments from the Last 50 Years Through the Trump Administration"
    William & Mary Law Review Online Volume Article 3 9-9-2020 Comments on McGahn "A Brief History of Judicial Appointments From the Last 50 Years Through the Trump Administration" Russell Wheeler Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlronline Part of the American Politics Commons, Judges Commons, Law and Politics Commons, and the Legal History Commons Repository Citation Wheeler, Russell (2020) "Comments on McGahn "A Brief History of Judicial Appointments From the Last 50 Years Through the Trump Administration"," William & Mary Law Review Online: Vol. 61 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlronline/vol61/iss1/3 Copyright c 2020 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlronline Wheeler: Comments on McGahn "A Brief History of Judicial Appointments From COMMENTS ON MCGAHN “A BRIEF HISTORY OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS FROM THE LAST 50 YEARS THROUGH THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ” RUSSELL WHEELER* TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................ 64 I. A PROCESS IN “SIGNIFICANT DECLINE”.................... 65 II. WHOM TO BLAME?................................... 67 A. Did “Things Change” During the George W. Bush Presidency? ...................................... 68 B. When Did the Court of Appeals Confirmation Rate Start to Decline? ......................................... 70 C. The Increase Under Trump of Confirmation Rates and Speedier Court of Appeals Confirmation Times . 75 III. WAS “GARLAND 1.0” CONSISTENT WITH “LONG-STANDING TRADITION?”....................................... 78 A. Why the Contentiousness over Trump’s Court of Appeals Nominees—“Garland 2.0?”.......................... 82 B. Trump’s District Confirmations ...................... 83 IV. ARE THERE WAYS OUT OF “THE MESS?”................. 84 V. THE BIGGER PICTURE: POLARIZATION AND ITS JUDICIAL BRANCH RAMIFICATIONS .............................
    [Show full text]
  • The American Presidencyafter Barack Obama
    THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY AFTER BARACK OBAMA EDITED BY GIUSEPPE FRANCO FERRARI Copy Editor/Author At the end of October 2016, Italy’s Public Comparative and European Law Association (DPCE) in collaboration with the Consulate General of United States of America organised a congress in Milan entitled ‘The American Presidency after Barack Obama’ about the evolution of the presidential role during Barack Obama’s eight years in office. The seminars allowed Italian scholars to focus on the different profiles of the Presidency as a governmental institution. This volume is the outcome of that congress. Copy Editor/Author ISBN 978-94-6236-809-5 9 789462 368095 Copy THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY Editor/Author AFTER BARACK OBAMA Copy Editor/Author THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY AFTER BARACK OBAMA Giuseppe Franco Ferrari (Ed.) Copy Editor/Author Published, sold and distributed by Eleven International Publishing P.O. Box 85576 2508 CG The Hague The Netherlands Tel.: +31 70 33 070 33 Fax: +31 70 33 070 30 e-mail: [email protected] www.elevenpub.com Sold and distributed in USA and Canada International Specialized Book Services 920 NE 58th Avenue, Suite 300 Portland, OR 97213-3786, USA Copy Tel: 1-800-944-6190 (toll-free) Fax: +1-503-280-8832 [email protected] www.isbs.com Eleven International Publishing is an imprint of Boom uitgevers Den Haag. ISBN 978-94-6236-809-5Editor/Author ISBN 978-94-6274-798-2 (E-book) © 2018 The authors | Eleven International Publishing This publication is protected by international copyright law. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permis- sion of the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • 7 Policy Links Among the Citizenry, the President, and the Federal
    CHAPTER Policy Links Among the Citizenry, the 7 President, and the Federal Judiciary Chapter Goals and Objectives In this chapter, readers will learn that . • The ability of a president to make an impact upon the decision-making output of the federal courts rests upon four key factors. distribute • The President’s values and policy references are often manifested via their judicial appointees’ decisions. or • Presidents Trump and Obama are, in differing ways, positioned to have significant influences upon the federal judiciary. ecause this book is about judicial policymaking,post, it is appropriate to examine B the links between the policy values of the elected chief executive and the decisional propensities of federal judges. If in electing one presidential can- didate rather than another, the citizenry expresses its policy choices, do such choices spill over into the kinds of judges presidents appoint and the way those judges decide policy-relevant cases? For instance, if the people decide in an elec- tion that they want a president who will reduce the size and powers of the federal bureaucracy, does copy,that president subsequently appoint judges who share that philosophy? And equally important, when those judges hear cases that give them the opportunity either to expand or to reduce the extent of a bureaucrat’s power, do they opt for the reduction of authority? Recent evidence, while incomplete, suggestsnot the existence of some policy links. This phenomenon will be examined by means of two questions. First, what critical factors must exist to enable presidents to obtain a judiciary that reflects their own political philosophy? Second, what empirical evidence is there to sug- Dogest that judges’ decisions to some degree carry the imprint of the presidents who selected them? 192 Copyright ©2020 by SAGE Publications, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Congress and the Courts: Current Policy Issues
    Order Code RL33094 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Congress and the Courts: Current Policy Issues September 20, 2005 Walter Oleszek Senior Specialist Government and Finance Division Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress Congress and the Courts: Current Policy Issues Summary Federal courts, like Congress and the presidency, are important forums for resolving the political, economic, and social conflicts that characterize American society. From the beginnings of the republic, when federal courts handed down decisions that strengthened the national government, to many of today’s most hotly debated issues — affirmative action, war powers, racial redistricting, and abortion — federal judges have been at the storm center of numerous controversies. The American constitutional system of separate institutions sharing power inevitably produces tension between Congress and the courts. Conflicts between Congress and federal courts are common when the elective branches are called to account by decisions of the nonelective judicial branch, composed of judges with lifetime tenure. The purposes of this report are to examine the Congress-court connection along several discrete, but overlapping, dimensions. First, the constitutional authority of Congress and the judiciary is summarized briefly. Second, the report highlights the court’s role as legislative-executive “umpire” and federal-state “referee” in our constitutional system. Third, the report discusses the court’s part in statutory interpretation as well as the diverse ways Congress may “check and balance” the judiciary. Fourth, the paper reviews several current controversies associated with the judicial nominations process. Fifth, the state of play with respect to the so-called “nuclear” or “constitutional” option for ending judicial filibusters is discussed along with the compromise that so far has averted use of this procedural maneuver in the Senate.
    [Show full text]
  • Confirming Circuit Judges in a Presidential Election Year Carl W
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Law Faculty Publications School of Law 2016 Confirming Circuit Judges in a Presidential Election Year Carl W. Tobias University of Richmond, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-faculty-publications Part of the Courts Commons, Judges Commons, and the Supreme Court of the United States Commons Recommended Citation Carl Tobias, Confirming Circuit Judges in a Presidential Election Year, 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 160 (2016). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Law Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Confirming Circuit Judges in a Presidential Election Year Carl Tobias* ABSTRACT Over 2016, President Barack Obama tapped accomplished, mainstream candidates for seven of twelve federal appeals court vacancies. Nevertheless, the Senate Judiciary Committee has furnished a public hearing and vote for merely three nominees and did not conduct a hearing for any other prospect this year. 2016 concomitantly is a presidential election year in which appointments can be delayed and stopped—a conundrum that Justice Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court vacancy exacerbates. Because appellate courts comprise tribunals of last resort for practically all cases and critically need each of their members to deliver justice, the appointments process merits scrutiny. The Essay first evaluates the records which nominees have previously assembled, President Obama’s judicial appointments process, and the appeals courts. It finds that the seven nominees are dynamic, consensus prospects.
    [Show full text]
  • Appointment of US Supreme Court Justices
    Briefing May 2016 Appointment of US Supreme Court Justices SUMMARY In February 2016, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, vacating a position on America’s highest court. That quickly focused American political discussion, in the midst of a heated Presidential campaigning season, on his possible replacement. The appointment of Supreme Court Justices is broadly depicted in Article II of the US Constitution as a process in which the President chooses a candidate but the Senate provides its 'advice and consent' on the nominee. The Republican-controlled Senate argued that President Obama should leave the nomination process to the next US President. Obama, meanwhile, affirmed his intention to fulfil his constitutional duty, and indeed on 16 March he put forward a nominee. The debate reflects an appointment process that is to a certain extent a bargain between the executive and legislative branches, framed by Constitutional norms and political considerations. From a procedural point of view, the process can be divided into two stages, the initial nomination phase, for the executive, and the subsequent confirmation phase, dominated by the legislative. Although the President maintains considerable discretion in choosing a candidate, many issues are taken into consideration before he or she submits the formal nomination. Some factors include the nominee’s professional competence and political affiliation, and the overall balance of the nine-member court in terms of the geographic, socio-ethnic, or religious backgrounds of the justices. Once the nominee is formally submitted to the Senate, the Judiciary Committee vets the nominee and organises public hearings. The Committee scrutinises the nominee's background closely, asking them to provide extensive professional and personal records which may support or cast doubt on his or her ultimate confirmation.
    [Show full text]
  • Litigating the Appointments Clause: the Most Effective Solution for Senate Obstruction of the Judicial Confirmation Process
    LITIGATING THE APPOINTMENTS CLAUSE: THE MOST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FOR SENATE OBSTRUCTION OF THE JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION PROCESS * Karl A. Schweitzer I. INTRODUCTION Peter Keisler was nominated to the Court of Appeals for the Dis- trict of Columbia Circuit by President George W. Bush three times; each time his nomination expired and was returned to the President without the Senate voting whether to confirm his nomination.1 Keis- ler’s final nomination expired and was returned to the President when the 110th Congress session ended on January 4, 2009, 920 days after he was first nominated on June 29, 2006. After two and a half years of political bickering and excuses, the Senate never voted to confirm or reject Keisler’s nomination.2 In essence, the Yale Law graduate, former Supreme Court law clerk, and former Acting Attor- ney General of the United States, who was given the American Bar Association’s highest judicial nominee rating of “well qualified,” put his professional life on hold for two and a half years only to end up caught in the middle of a political warzone.3 The increased partisanship and obstruction at the hands of both Democrats and Republicans involved in the Senate confirmation process for federal judges has been the subject of much scholarly dis- cussion and criticism. Indeed, the confirmation process has been * J.D. Candidate, 2010, University of Pennsylvania Law School. I would like to thank my family for their support, especially my wife, Rinad Beidas. I would also like to thank Jon Amar, Craig Reiser, Aamir Wyne, and everyone else who helped throughout the writing process.
    [Show full text]
  • The Stakes Are High in the Looming Fight to Replace Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court
    blogs.lse.ac.uk http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2016/02/15/the-stakes-are-high-in-the-looming-fight-to-replace-justice-scalia-on-the-supreme-court/ The stakes are high in the looming fight to replace Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court. The death late last week of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has further complicated the 2016 presidential race and threatened to bring even more gridlock to Washington DC with Republican Senate leaders pledging not to confirm any nominee sent to them by President Obama to replace Scalia. Lauren Bell looks at the battle that Obama administration now faces in getting a nominee confirmed, but also argues that a protracted nomination fight might end up working against the Republican Party in an election year. Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly at the age of 79 on Saturday, was the most outspoken and visible member of the conservative bloc of justices on the US Supreme Court. At a time when politics in America are more polarized than they have been in decades, it is hard to imagine a more significant turning point for the Court and for the direction of public policy than his death. There have already been several analyses of the possibilities for what happens now. Scalia was appointed in 1986 to replace Justice William Rehnquist, who in turn had been nominated to fill the vacancy left by retiring Chief Justice Warren Burger. Although he became a flashpoint for liberal interest groups during his three decades on the high court, Scalia’s nomination faced little opposition during the Senate’s confirmation process; his nomination was unanimously approved both by the Senate Judiciary Committee and by the full US Senate.
    [Show full text]