Legion Troll
A fine upstanding poster
Turtles crawl faster than Mitch McConnell allows the Senate to do their job
There are 46 other Merrick Garlands.
That is, 46 other judicial nominees are in the same boat.
They’re not in line for the Supreme Court, but like Garland, they’re nominees to federal courts who aren’t getting votes (except one, who just got scheduled for a Monday vote).
That’s because GOP leaders don’t want to confirm judges until 2017.
By then, they hope, a Republican will be in the White House and will put forward nominees they like better.
Not only are they screwing the judicial branch of government by dragging out confirmations — but they’re screwing you. When vacancies pile up on district and circuit courts, people’s cases can get delayed for years.
The last time the Senate confirmed a judge was in mid-February, and that was only because McConnell postponed a package of judicial nominees from 2015 into the new year.
There are 15 judicial nominees ready for a confirmation vote right now, but only one of those votes has been scheduled.
Another 32 are waiting on the Judiciary Committee, which hasn’t held a hearing for a nominee since January.
Federal courts, meanwhile, are at 79 vacancies and climbing.
Some GOP senators really need judicial nominees confirmed, but are being denied by their own party leaders.
Marilyn Horan would fill a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, a post that’s been vacant for 921 days. She has the support of her Republican senator, Pat Toomey, and has been ready for a confirmation vote since January. But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hasn’t scheduled it.
Suzanne Mitchell would fill a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma that has been empty for 1,006 days. Both of her senators, Republicans James Inhofe and James Lankford, back her. But it’s been four months since her nomination and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee chairman, hasn’t even given her a hearing.
For some broader perspective, consider that Republicans have only confirmed 16 judicial nominees since becoming the Senate majority in January 2015. At this same point in President George W. Bush’s eighth year, when Democrats controlled the Senate, 40 judicial nominees had been confirmed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-supreme-court-vacancy_us_57052f3ee4b05376618853c4