Posted on 03/02/2009 8:46:11 PM PST by cc2k
March 2, 2009
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We look forward to working with you as you consider nominees for the federal judiciary. Unfortunately, the judicial appointments process has become needlessly acrimonious. We would very much like to improve this process, and we know you would as well. It is in that spirit that we write early on to suggest two steps your Administration can take to achieve that shared goal.
First, in the beginning of his Administration, your predecessor demonstrated his desire to improve the judicial confirmation process by nominating to the circuit courts two of President Clinton’s previous judicial nominees, Judge Barrington Parker to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge Roger Gregory to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. It would help change the tone in Washington if your Administration would take the same bipartisan step. Because the last Congress sadly set the modern record for the fewest circuit court confirmations in a President’s final Congress, there are plenty of well-qualified nominees with bipartisan support from whom to choose. For example, Peter Keisler has been praised repeatedly by colleagues in both the public and private sector, Democrats and Republicans, and has earned accolades from major media observers, like The Washington Post. And Judges Glen Conrad and Paul Diamond both enjoyed bipartisan support and have outstanding records on the federal trial bench.
Second, as our Democratic colleagues have emphasized for the last several years, the process of federal appointments is a shared constitutional responsibility. We respect your responsibility to nominate suitable candidates for the federal bench. And as a former colleague, we know you appreciate the Senate’s unique constitutional responsibility to provide or withhold its Advice and Consent on nominations. The principle of senatorial consultation (or senatorial courtesy) is rooted in this special responsibility, and its application dates to the Administration of George Washington. Democrats and Republicans have acknowledged the importance of maintaining this principle, which allows individual senators to provide valuable insights into their constituents’ qualifications for federal service.
We hope your Administration will consult with us as it considers possible nominations to the federal courts from our states. Regretfully, if we are not consulted on, and approve of, a nominee from our states, the Republican Conference will be unable to support moving forward on that nominee. Despite press reports that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee now may be considering changing the Committee’s practice of observing senatorial courtesy, we, as a Conference, expect it to be observed, even-handedly and regardless of party affiliation. And we will act to preserve this principle and the rights of our colleagues if it is not.
Because of the profound impact that life-tenured federal judges can have in our society, the Founders made their appointment a shared constitutional responsibility. We look forward to working with you to discharge this important duty in the best interest of our country.
Sincerely,
All Republican Senators
Cc: The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
I'm sure I'll get flamed here, but Obama should pay as much attention to this as Bush did to the suggestions from Democrat Senators that he consult with them first about judicial nominees. If Republicans wanted more input on judicial nominees, they should have run a stronger candidate, a better campaign and won the Presidential election.
This letter sounds like the Republican Senators are a bunch of whiners.
Maybe McConnell and Specter can get some of the more conservative Dems to turn on some of Obama's nominees in a "gang of 14" type agreement. Yeah, like that would happen. Specter will just green light any appointment that the pres__ent sends up.
Whatever. We have a Communist as prez, he is hell bent on taking over this country, who care who he picks.
I didn’t think there ARE 41 GOP Senators???
I mean, unless you count the likes of Collins, Snowe, and Specter...
What a waste of time!
This is satire.......... right?
Well, theoretically, the 41 Republican senators could filibuster nominees who are too radical. I think there is a procedure in the Senate by which Senators from the state of the judge nominee can block the nomination, also.
Dems. used their parliamentary manuvering to block Bush’s judges. Should Republicans just roll over and play dead? Yes Obama is hell bent on doing what he wants, but should we really not oppose what he does?
I’m sure Chavez, err, I mean Obama will pay attention to their concerns.
I wouldn’t flame you, but instead of “whining,” I think this sounds like the GOP Senators are each respectively growing a pair - all but three of them, that is - and are serving notice to Zero that they’re going to play by the same rules the Dims used when George Dubya was President.
The Pres__ent. I like that. Gets them back for the 8 years of the leftists’ childish “resident Bush” nonsense.
Pres__ent Obama, the Kenyan Keynesian.
Any wagers the Republicans won’t filibuster a single judge and no Bush appointee that was held up will see the federal bench the next 4 years.
Ooh a stern letter. Someone has been studying the strategies of Captain Picard.
Don’t worry. By 2012 there’ll be 73 R-Senators.
Yeah, I’m sure he’ll listen. LOL
Fools. Democrats aren’t like the spineless rudderless vessels we have operating this party right now. Where Republicans waste months trying to bring Democrat’s on board and compromise campaign principles to do so, Democrat’s slam the door shut and allow no discussion no matter what anyone thinks.
Really, you’re looking forward to dealing with a socialist?
As much as I don’t really like saying it I gotta stick with my (and many others) “nominees deserve an up or down vote” that we wanted for our side, when we had power, regardless of what the minority wants.
This is the one point that Obama can legitimately use his “I won” card imo, thus the consequences of people staying home.
0 will tell them to go to hell.
I concur. The Democrats have the ability to appoint whomever they want. Let’s just hope none of the liberal justices retire before 2012.
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