As G.O.P. Moves to Fill Courts, McConnell Takes Aim at an Enduring Hurdle

[Swordsmyth]

President Trump is eager to put his conservative imprint on the federal judiciary, but an impediment remains.Though the Senate has virtually eliminated the ability of the minority party to block appointments to the bench from the Supreme Court on down, individual senators can still thwart nominees from their home states by refusing to sign off on a form popularly known for its color — the blue slip.
Now, with some Democrats refusing to consent as the Trump administration moves to fill scores of judicial vacancies, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and majority leader, is for the first time publicly advocating that the blue slip be made strictly advisory when it comes to appeals court nominees — the most powerful judges after those on the Supreme Court.
“My personal view is that the blue slip, with regard to circuit court appointments, ought to simply be a notification of how you’re going to vote, not the opportunity to blackball,” Mr. McConnell said in an interview with The New York Times for “The New Washington” podcast. He said he favored retaining the blue slip authority for lower-level district court judges.
With the conflict escalating, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, has requested a meeting with Mr. McConnell and the top Republican and Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee to dissuade Republicans from weakening the blue slip.

More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/us/politics/mcconnell-federal-judges-trump.html

[Swordsmyth]

Senate Republicans broke a record on Wednesday for the number of appeals court judges confirmed during a president's first two years.
Senators voted 50-49on Andrew Oldham's nomination to be a judge on the 5th Circuit, making him Trump's 23rd circuit court judge confirmed since he took office last year.

That breaks the previous record set by President George H.W. Bush, who got 22 appeals court judges confirmed during his administration's first two years.


"The Senate continues to confirm impressive nominees whom President Trump (http://thehill.com/people/donald-trump) has asked to serve our country," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (http://thehill.com/people/mitch-mcconnell) (R-Ky.) said on Wednesday. "[Oldham] comes highly recommended by colleagues and peers from across the spectrum."

Republicans have rushed to confirm Trump's nominees for the key bench, letting the party shape the direction of the U.S. court system for decades.
"I think of the things that we've been able to do with this Republican government the last year and a half, the single most long-lasting, positive impact we'll be able to have on the country is the judiciary," McConnell told reporters in Kentucky late last week.

Democrats are essentially powerless to stop Trump's judicial picks unless they can win GOP support.

In 2013, Senate Democrats, led by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (http://thehill.com/people/harry-reid) (D-Nev.), nixed the 60-vote filibuster for district and circuit court nominations. Republicans, in turn, nixed the same hurdle for Supreme Court nominations last year.

In addition to Oldham, Senate Republicans are poised to confirm Ryan Bounds to serve on the 9th Circuit on Thursday, giving Trump his 24th appeals judge.

By comparison, the Senate had confirmed 16 circuit court nominees for Obama by the end of his second year in office, with the final tranche of picks not being confirmed until December of 2010, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee (https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/nominations/judicial?c=111).

President George W. Bush got 17 circuit judges confirmed by the end of 2002, his second year in office, according to the Congressional Research Service (https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31868.pdf) (CRS). Clinton had 19 confirmed during his first two years in office, according to CRS (https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/19970124_96-567_43ce401464e4c1a1f84b58e36310559323bfaa36.pdf). And Presidents Reagan and Carter got 19 and 12 nominees confirmed, respectively (https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL31635.pdf).

Republicans previously broke the record last year for number of appeals judges confirmed during a president's first year. But they haven't moved as quickly on lower-level district judges, whose rulings can be overturned by circuit court judges.

A Washington Post analysis (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/06/14/are-trumps-judicial-nominees-really-being-confirmed-at-a-record-pace-the-answer-is-complicated/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f6f39b7f3917) found that, when combined with votes on lower-level district judges, Trump was lagging behind other recent administration, except Obama, in total number of judges confirmed as of the end of May.

More at: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/397754-senate-gop-breaks-record-on-confirming-trump-picks-for-key-court