A glass-half-empty resolution on judicial nominees
From the WashPost - President, Senate reach pact on judicial nominees: “The White House pledged yesterday that President Bush will not bypass the Senate in appointing federal judges for the next eight months as part of a bipartisan deal to break a seven-week impasse over votes on Bush's judicial nominees.”
In exchange for allowing votes on 25 “non-controversial” nominees, Bush agrees not to make recess appointments. I agree with NRO’s Jonathan Adler: this strikes me as a minor defeat for the White House. Yes, more Bush-nominated judges will gain the federal bench, but it seems like a capitulation to the fact that the President is supposed to have the right to shape the federal judiciary.
3 comments:
Eric,
I think many people are taking this the wrong way. None of the disputed nominees would accept a recess appointment anyway, so what did Bush really give up? Nothing. Still, I'd like to see the Republican senators put up a better fight for the nominees being blocked. If they took their case to the people, and granted it is hard to do right now, I think they could have success.
That being said, I think a lot of people are finding a Bush defeat where there isn't one.
Blocking judicial nominees from a up-or-down vote was a shameless subversion of the Constitution. I just feel that Bush should not have given any quarter.
Eric,
I agree 100%. The R's should have gone with the nuclear option.
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