Obama's D.C. Court Nominations Heat Up Battle With Senate
President Obama fired a warning shot Tuesday in the battle over Senate confirmations: He nominated three new judges to the powerful federal appeals court in Washington, and he challenged Senate Republicans not to stand in their way.
Obama complained about procedural roadblocks that have tied up many of his previous nominees — sometimes for years.
But Republicans are looking to sidestep the confirmation fight by downsizing the appeals court itself.
The Nominees
When the president nominates a judge, he usually does so quietly, via press release. On Tuesday, though, Obama was looking to make some noise. He stepped in front of the TV cameras in the White House Rose Garden, with not one but three nominees — all with top ratings from the American Bar Association.
"These are no slouches. These are no hacks. These are incredibly accomplished lawyers by all accounts," Obama said.
The nominees are: Patricia Millett, a veteran appeals lawyer who worked in both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations; Cornelia Pillard, a law professor at Georgetown University; and Robert Wilkins, a federal district judge who won unanimous confirmation in 2010.
"There's no reason, aside from politics, for Republicans to block these individuals from getting an up-or-down vote," the president said.
But politics is never far from the surface, especially when it comes to filling spots on the Court of Appeals in Washington — second only to the U.S. Supreme Court in its effect on government policy.
Russell Wheeler, who tracks judicial nominations at the Brookings Institution, says these three nominees would shift the balance on the D.C. Circuit. Nearly two-thirds of the full-time and senior judges now on the D.C. court were appointed by Republican presidents.
"This court is seen as fairly conservative for the most part in the decisions it renders, especially those involving administrative agency appeals — for example, from the Environmental Protection Agency, from the [National Labor Relations Board]," he says. "And clearly the administration's regulatory agenda is running into some roadblocks in this court."
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