Democrats used to think it was OK to block presidential appointees

[Big Money]

List of stalled, blocked or filibustered nominees

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Rhode Island seat vacated by Bruce M. Selya - William E. Smith (judgeship later filled by Obama nominee O. Rogeriee Thompson)

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
New York seat vacated by John M. Walker, Jr. - Debra Ann Livingston (Livingston was nominated by President Bush in June 2006 but not allowed to be confirmed by Senate Democrats until May 2007)
New York seat vacated by Chester J. Straub - Loretta A. Preska (judgeship later filled by Obama nominee Gerard E. Lynch)

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
New Jersey seat vacated by Samuel Alito - Shalom D. Stone (judgeship later filled by Obama nominee Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr.)
Pennsylvania seat vacated by Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen - Gene E. K. Pratter, followed by Paul S. Diamond (judgeship later filled by Obama nominee Thomas I. Vanaskie)

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Maryland seat vacated by Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. - Claude Allen, followed by Rod J. Rosenstein (judgeship later filled by Obama nominee Andre M. Davis)
North Carolina seat vacated by James Dickson Phillips, Jr. - Terrence Boyle, followed by Robert J. Conrad (Boyle was nominated by President Bush in May 2001. After waiting six years, President Bush withdrew his nomination January 2007, making this 2001-2007 nomination the longest court of appeals nomination never processed by the Senate; Robert Conrad was nominated July 2007, but the Senate Democrats refused to process his nomination during the Democratic 110th Congress; judgeship later filled by Obama nominee James A. Wynn, Jr.)
South Carolina seat vacated by William Walter Wilkins - Steve A. Matthews (judgeship later filled by North Carolina Obama nominee Albert Diaz)
Virginia seat vacated by H. Emory Widener - William J. Haynes, II, followed by E. Duncan Getchell, followed by Glen E. Conrad (judgeship later filled by Obama nominee Barbara Milano Keenan)

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Mississippi seat, converted from a Louisiana seat vacated by Henry Anthony Politz - Charles W. Pickering, followed by Michael B. Wallace, followed by Leslie H. Southwick (Pickering was filibustered by Senate Democrats and eventually withdrew his nomination; there was so much Democratic resistance to Wallace's nomination that it too was withdrawn; and Southwick was only confirmed due to the efforts of Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein)
Texas seat vacated by William Lockhart Garwood - Priscilla Owen (Owen was filibustered by Senate Democrats and only allowed to be confirmed under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal)

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Michigan seat vacated by James L. Ryan - Henry Saad, followed by Raymond Kethledge (Saad was filibustered by Senate Democrats; Kethledge was only confirmed after a deal in which failed Clinton nominee Helene White was allowed to replace Bush nominee Stephen J. Murphy III as a Sixth Circuit nominee)
Michigan seat vacated by Richard Suhrheinrich - David W. McKeague (McKeague was filibustered by Senate Democrats and only allowed to be confirmed under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal)
Michigan seat vacated by Damon Keith - Richard Allen Griffin (Griffin was filibustered by Senate Democrats and only allowed to be confirmed under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal)
Michigan seat vacated by Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy - Susan Bieke Neilson, followed by Stephen J. Murphy III, followed by failed Clinton nominee Helene White (Neilson was only confirmed three months prior to her death after a four-year battle over her nomination; Murphy's nomination was replaced by that of failed Clinton nominee Helene White at the behest of Democratic Michigan senator Carl Levin)
Ohio seat vacated by David Aldrich Nelson - Jeffrey S. Sutton (Senate Democrats refused to process his nomination during the Democratic 107th Congress and he was only confirmed once Republicans assumed control of the house in 2003)
Ohio seat vacated by Alan Norris - Deborah L. Cook (Senate Democrats refused to process her nomination during the Democratic 107th Congress and she was only confirmed once Republicans assumed control of the house in 2003)

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Indiana seat vacated by Kenneth F. Ripple - Philip P. Simon (judgeship later filled by Obama nominee David Hamilton)

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
California seat vacated by James R. Browning - Carolyn Kuhl (Kuhl was filibustered by Senate Democrats and eventually withdrew her nomination; judgeship later filled by Bush nominee Sandra Segal Ikuta)
California seat vacated by Stephen S. Trott - N. Randy Smith (judgeship still open; Smith was later confirmed to the Ninth Circuit when he was renominated for an Idaho seat)
Idaho seat vacated by Thomas G. Nelson - William Gerry Myers III (Myers was filibustered by Senate Democrats; judgeship later filled by Bush nominee N. Randy Smith)

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Oklahoma seat vacated by Stephanie Kulp Seymour - James H. Payne, followed by Jerome A. Holmes (Payne withdrew his nomination after allegations made by liberal organizations created the appearance of "extraordinary circumstances" which would not have allowed his confirmation under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal; judgeship later filled by Bush nominee Jerome A. Holmes)

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Alabama seat vacated by Emmett Ripley Cox - William H. Steele, followed by William H. Pryor (Senate Democrats refused to process Steele's nomination during the Democratic 107th Congress and his nomination was withdrawn; Pryor was filibustered by Senate Democrats and was only allowed to be confirmed under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal)

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Miguel Estrada, to seat vacated by Patricia Wald (Estrada was nominated May 2001, but was filibustered by Senate Democrats and withdrew his nomination after waiting over two years in September 2003; judgeship later filled by Bush nominee Thomas B. Griffith, who was only allowed to be confirmed under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal)
John Roberts, to seat vacated by James L. Buckley (Senate Democrats refused to process his nomination during the Democratic 107th Congress and he was only confirmed once Republicans assumed control of the Senate in 2003)
Janice Rogers Brown, to seat vacated by Stephen F. Williams (Brown was filibustered by Senate Democrats and was only allowed to be confirmed under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal)
Brett Kavanaugh, to seat vacated by Laurence Silberman (Kavanaugh was initially stalled by Senate Democrats and was only allowed to be confirmed under the terms of the Gang of 14 Deal)
Peter Keisler, to seat vacated by John Roberts (President Bush nominated him June 2006, but Senate Democrats refused to process his nomination during the 109th and Democratic 110th Congress; judgeship still open)



http://en.wikipedia.orgwikiGeorge_W._Bush_judicial_appointment_controversies#List_of_stalled.2C_blocked_or_filibustered_nominees

 

[christiefan915]

During President Bill Clinton's first and second terms of office, he nominated 24 people for 20 different federal appellate judgeships but the nominees were not processed by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. Three of the nominees who were not processed (Christine Arguello, Andre M. Davis and S. Elizabeth Gibson) were nominated after July 1, 2000, the traditional start date of the unofficial Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year. The Democrats claim that Senate Republicans of the 106th Congress on purpose tried to keep open particular judgeships as a political maneuver to allow a future Republican president to fill them. Of the 20 seats in question, four were eventually filled with different Clinton nominees, fourteen were later filled with Republican nominees by President George W. Bush and two were left open during Bush's presidency.

Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the United States Senate during the 110th Congress, and Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democratic leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee under Reid, repeatedly mentioned the controversy over President Clinton's court of appeals nominees during the following controversy involving the confirmation of any more Republican court of appeals nominees during the last two years of Bush's second term. Senate Republicans of the 110th Congress claimed that Democrats were refusing to confirm certain longstanding Bush nominees in order to allow a future Democratic president in 2009 to fill those judgeships.

During his presidency, Clinton nominated 45 people for 42 different federal district judgeships to federal district courts who never were confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Like the appellate court nominations mentioned above, many of these nominees were blocked by Republicans either in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was controlled by Republicans for six of the eight years of Clinton’s presidency, or on the Senate floor, where one nominee, Ronnie L. White, was defeated by senators.

Of the 42 federal district judgeship vacancies in question, 17 eventually were filled with different Clinton nominees, 24 were filled by nominees of President George W. Bush and one never ended up becoming vacant because the district judge holding it never received confirmation to be elevated to an appellate court. Of Clinton's 45 failed district court nominees, four, Legrome D. Davis, David S. Cercone, Dolly M. Gee and Sue E. Myerscough, subsequently were nominated by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to federal district judgeships and then confirmed by the Senate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_judicial_appointment_controversies

 

[Big Money]

Did the GOP invoke the nuclear option to get their appointees through Senate confirmation?

 

[maineman]

I am glad that one party finally got rid of the ridiculous use of filibusters for holding up routine presidential appointments.

It was abundantly clear the the GOP simply does not want government to work at any level.

 

[Big Money]

I am glad that one party finally got rid of the ridiculous use of filibusters for holding up routine presidential appointments. It was abundantly clear the the GOP simply does not want government to work at any level.

You won't be so glad when the Dems dip below 51 votes in the Senate, I'm guessing.

Was it abundantly clear the the Dems simply did not want government to work at any level when they blocked Bush appointments?

 

[christiefan915]

"...nearly 3 in 10 of all cloture motions filed in the history of the Senate were filed during McConnell’s tenure as Minority Leader. Any claim that the Senate’s current minority is simply following past practices is not credible. The filibuster existed before the Age of McConnell, but McConnell made them commonplace.
But, beyond the unprecedented frequency of filibusters under Mitch McConnell, the current Republican minority wielded them to seize an unprecedented degree of control over the law and the judiciary. With enough creativity, Senate Republicans discovered that the filibuster could not simply prevent new laws from being enacted, it could also be used to effectively repeal laws protecting workers and regulating Wall Street. By refusing to confirm nominees to lifetime appointments on the federal bench, they could also ensure that some of the nation’s most powerful courts remained in Republican hands. And looming over all of this is the next Supreme Court vacancy. If Senate Republicans will use the filibuster today to keep their grip on the nation’s second most powerful court, imagine what they’ll do if a justice retires."

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/11/21/2972671/senate-democrats-invoke-nuclear-option/

 

[Big Money]

We'll see how popular the nuclear option becomes on Think Progress after the 2014 midterms...

 

[SmarterthanYou]

this looked like it needed a reboot.

 

[Jarod]

Maybe we can finally end the fillabuster's use on both sides!