U.S. Court Seats Filling Up
From the National Law Journal
The Senate confirmed federal judges at a faster rate in the past five months than at any time during President Barack Obama's administration — significantly reducing the number of vacancies on the nation's courts.
The average number of judicial confirmations per month since March was 11. The monthly average during the rest of Obama's presidency? Four.
Senate Democrats made confirmations a higher priority this spring in part for fear of losing their majority in the November elections, lawyers and scholars who closely watch the confirmations process said. Partisanship on Capitol Hill stalled progress on major legislation, leaving time on the Senate floor to move Obama's judicial picks.
At the same time, historic changes to the Senate's filibuster rules — put in place in November during a fight over nominations to a key federal appeals court in Washington — prevented Republicans from getting in the way.
The urgency to fill judicial slots might be based on politics, but the effect is practical. The high number of vacancies during Obama's presidency — which hovered around 90 for several years amid stalemates in the confirmations process — caused litigation costs to increase, judges to spend less time on cases and made civil disputes harder to settle, according to a July report from The Brennan Center for Justice.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the National Law Journal
The Senate confirmed federal judges at a faster rate in the past five months than at any time during President Barack Obama's administration — significantly reducing the number of vacancies on the nation's courts.
The average number of judicial confirmations per month since March was 11. The monthly average during the rest of Obama's presidency? Four.
Senate Democrats made confirmations a higher priority this spring in part for fear of losing their majority in the November elections, lawyers and scholars who closely watch the confirmations process said. Partisanship on Capitol Hill stalled progress on major legislation, leaving time on the Senate floor to move Obama's judicial picks.
At the same time, historic changes to the Senate's filibuster rules — put in place in November during a fight over nominations to a key federal appeals court in Washington — prevented Republicans from getting in the way.
The urgency to fill judicial slots might be based on politics, but the effect is practical. The high number of vacancies during Obama's presidency — which hovered around 90 for several years amid stalemates in the confirmations process — caused litigation costs to increase, judges to spend less time on cases and made civil disputes harder to settle, according to a July report from The Brennan Center for Justice.
Read more in our daily News Update...