Stalled judicial nominees in the Senate could allow the next president to quickly tip the ideological scales of federal courts.
Bloomberg reports:
An election-year standstill in Senate confirmation of George W. Bush’s judicial nominees will give the next president a chance to tip the ideological balance of U.S. appeals courts that decide such issues as job discrimination, national security and pollution-cleanup disputes.
The Democratic-controlled Senate has stopped filling vacancies on appeals courts, which in many respects have greater impact than the Supreme Court. The high court decides about 70 cases each year, while the 13 appellate courts issue thousands of rulings.
A carryover of the 10 vacancies would have the greatest effect if Democrat Barack Obama defeats Republican John McCain in November. It would let Obama move quickly to put his stamp on the courts after eight years of nominations by Bush. Six of the 13 U.S. appeals courts are closely divided between Republican and Democratic appointees.
Senate Republicans have been frustrated by the slow pace of confirmations, especially in this last year of President Bush’s tenure. According to the article, the Senate has confirmed 10 appeals-court nominees since early 2007 compared with 15 who were confirmed at the end of President Clinton’s Administration.
