Mitch McConnell Says Obama's Circuit Court Nominees Won't Be Confirmed Anymore

[phantom power]

Remember, the problem is we Dems just need to "reach across the aisle" and then everything would be Okee - dokee.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that he doesn't expect to confirm any of Obama's circuit court nominees for the remainder of his time in office, a blow to White House efforts to fill empty federal court seats despite working with a Republican-controlled Senate.

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, McConnell was asked about judicial confirmations.

"So far, the only judges we’ve confirmed have been federal district judges that have been signed off on by Republican senators,” McConnell said. Asked if he expects that to be the case through 2016, McConnell said, "I think that's highly likely, yeah."

...

Beyond them, there are an additional seven circuit court vacancies around the country that don't yet have nominees. If McConnell's vow is true, none of those seats will get filled, either.

...

For some context: President George W. Bush had to work with a Democratic Senate in his final two years in office. By this point in Bush's seventh year, the Senate had confirmed 15 of his district court nominees and three circuit court nominees.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/04/mitch-mcconnell-obama-judges_n_7515820.html

[Angry Dragon]

1. I think it is time to charge Mitch with treason

he is attacking the American people and not doing his job

[onenote]

6. Does someone get a prize for being the one millionth poster to not understand what treason is

under the US Constitution?

You may be in the running if so.

What he's doing is reprehensible. But its not illegal, its politics.
If the Senate brought up each nominee for a vote and the Republicans voted as a bloc against confirmation, would that not be doing his job?

The answer to the Repubs playing hardball is for the Democrats to find ways to play hardball too, blocking things the repub majority wants to pass.

[Angry Dragon]

8. He is not bringing them up for a vote

Working against the USA is treason and that is what he is doing

[onenote]

10. Here's a helpful link.

Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiii

[yeoman6987]

14. Not true.

[mindem]

9. Ha, ha, ha, ha ha

Dems playing hardball, that's a good one. I don't think the word fight is in their vocabulary anymore.

[jwirr]

19. I agree Democrats will not play hardball but just let us hope we do not make any tradeoffs to

get what we want. I is the poor who will lose then. You know all those people who do not matter.

[lonestarnot]

11. Snort.

If they did, what would it be?

[onenote]

15. This.

[lonestarnot]

20. Yeah, but send the whole little book with BOR's like the ones I bought in DC. My friend gets them

free in bulk.

[onenote]

25. I have so many copies of that!!

It's weird...I can't bring myself to toss a copy of the Constitution in the trash, but various groups send me one all the time!

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Then the Dems should grind the Senate to a halt. nt

[mainstreetonce]

3. He should be impeached

He is not representing all the people.

[onenote]

5. One, you can't impeach a Senator. Two, he wasn't elected to serve all the people

He was elected Senator to serve the people of Kentucky. And he was elected to serve as majority leader by the majority party in the Senate.

What he's doing is reprehensible. But its politics and its not impeachable (as if a Republican leader could be impeached by a Republican House and convicted by a Republican Senate) for representing the interests of Republicans.

[gratuitous]

4. I'm glad he said something

Now I can ascribe Senate inaction to an evil plan rather than garden variety laziness. Notice how you don't hear too much yammering from the Republicans about "the will of the people" nowadays, when the Senate is engaged in a deliberate program to subvert the will of the people?

You'd think this would be an avenue of inquiry for some enterprising journalist looking to make a name for himself or herself . . .

[Hortensis]

7. Same here. Question of whether he'd change in attempt to establish a worthy legacy also answered.

[lonestarnot]

13. It is starting to. I saw where MSM is publishing that 73% of the wealth in the country is owned by

the top 10%. They most usually try to bury that kind of information.

[onenote]

12. Not to defend McConnell, but anyone want to guess how many Circuit Court nominations are pending?

Two. Just two.

How many vacancies are there for which no one has been nominated? Seven, and some of them date back to 2013 and at least one goes back to 2010.

Unless the President starts making nominations to fill these vacancies, its hard to complain about their not being confirmed.

[KeepItReal]

16. President Obama has had a less than stellar track record on nominations in general

Despite the obvious GOP obstruction.

[gratuitous]

17. No, this is pretty much all on the Senate

The President can't get a nominee to a hearing without blue slips from each Senator in the nominee's home state. When you're talking about a nominee from Kansas, or Texas, or Florida, you can just about forget it. Without a hearing and a committee vote, no nominee gets consideration by the whole Senate. Obama could nominate the second coming of Felix Frankfurter, Oliver Wendell Holmes (Sr. and Jr.), Robert Jackson and Thurgood Marshall, and not a one of them would even get to the Judiciary Committee for a hearing.

[onenote]

21. True. But it should be possible to get blue slips for nominees for the 6th and 8th circuits

Michigan is in the Sixth Circuit and has two Democratic senators
Minnesota is in the Eighth Circuit and has two Democratic senators.

Those should be taken care of asap.

[Rex]

18. Dems always try and work with Reps, yet Reps almost never try to work with Dems!

It is one main reason the GOP sucks eggs so bad!

[pansypoo53219]

22. CALL IT SEDITION.

yeah. obama just isn't being NICE ENOUGH.

[Rex]

24. IKR!? We are just way too nice to these asshole! We treat them with the respect we want in return

and the GOP burns us everyfuckingtime!

I am SICK of our party being nice to the GOP...

[hrmjustin]

23. Disgraceful!