One Judge Confirmed This Week (and McConnell went nuclear)

[cotton1706]

This will be a weekly post.

Count is now 93 judges confirmed.

54 District Court judges

37 Circuit Court judges

2 Supreme Court justices

The biggest judicial news of the week - McConnell and the Senate using their majority to reduce the debate time for district court judges from 30 to 2 hours.

(As an aside, Senator Mike Lee of Utah voted with the democrats on this. He's becoming quite the phony!)

In the coming weeks, expect the district judge backlog to be significantly reduced.

Also, two 9th Circuit nominees were voted out of committee.

[nathanbedford]

I am not yet willing to cast Sen. Mike Lee into outer darkness, he does after all enjoy one of the highest conservative ratings of anyone in Congress. I think his stances on opposing the declaration of emergency on the border and abolishing the filibuster rule on judges stems from his honest conviction as a conservative about how the government has been run and should continue to be run.

That conviction might be that of a paleo -conservative increasingly irrelevant as the Republican Party is transformed by Donald Trump, but it might also be an honest conviction of one who believes that he has a longer perspective. Personally, I am in the camp that says the Democrats have become so rabidly extreme that one cannot expect them to do other than pass any expedient in violation of the Constitution which accelerates their grasp of power. In my view it does no good to hold onto traditions which the Democrats will blow away as soon as they have the votes. The Democrat party ain't your father's party.

Nevertheless, Lee holds to a vision of how our democracy works, a tradition which has been observed and honored for decades and, not incidentally, one that protects the minority in which, within six years if not sooner, we conservatives are very likely to find ourselves unhappily situated.

[HighSierra5]

I thought Lee was great back in the Tea Party days but he seems to have jumped the shark. What’s with Utah? You had hope with that black congresswoman and then she went sour. Now you’ve got Romney. Great! You had Orrin Hatched. Typical RINO. And that other old Senator that I can’t remember his name and don’t give hoot anyway. Is it a Mormon thing? Or is there something in the water? I guess these morphing conservatives are all over the place.Sheesh!

[JonPreston]

he (Lee) does after all enjoy one of the highest conservative ratings of anyone in Congress

I have no idea what a conservative rating means today, nor am I aware of the granting body that bestows such a label.

[cotton1706]

I think Mitt Romney’s whispering “that’s not who we are” principles in his ear. That’s usually how it happens.

I hope you’re right. But I expect to see more of Mike Lee being on the “thwart conservatism” side.

[nathanbedford]

In my judgment Conservative Review and is the most realistic and trustworthy service, all the more so precisely because it is not affiliated with the government.

[magua]

Either Mike Lee is sound asleep or he’s being too cute. We are in the middle of a civil war and Mike Lee isn’t aware of that. Like the opposition is doing everything by the book.

[WWG1WWA]

Remember the olde Rino trick of voting R on most matters, then voting against on issues that are crucial.

[Qout]

Confirmed this week was Roy Kalman Altman to be District Judge the Southern District of Florida. A little sleuthing shows four district judges may be confirmed next week for CO, OK-W, IN-N and TX-S. https://www.democrats.senate.gov/2019/04/04/schedule-for-monday-april-8-2019

[SMGFan]

Elizabeth Warren calls for ending the Senate filibuster

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the many Democrats running for president in 2020, officially called for ending the Senate filibuster on Friday, condemning it as a historic “tool to block progress on racial justice” which is currently being used by the far right to “block progress on everything.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-warren-calls-for-ending-the-senate-filibuster/

“I’ve watched Republicans abuse the rules when they’re out of power, then turn around and blow off the rules when they’re in power,” Warren said in a campaign email to supporters.

[nathanbedford]

Mike Lee looks pretty good when one considers the list of votes used by Conservative Review is to judge the conservative bona fides of senators

[Jacquerie]

If I was a constituent of Mike Lee, I wouldn’t forget his opposition to the border wall.

The third-world invasion threatens American civil society like no other war in our history. It is past time to hurt people.

[JonPreston]

Yes, I read CRs list of questions and I see Justin Amash hit a 90%. I have zero uses for Amash, conservative rating not withstanding. But I realize that’s me and what the word conservative has become. With folks like Lee & Amash highly regarded conservatives, I don’t consider myself one.

[nathanbedford]

I agree with you entirely but I am not yet willing to impute bad motive to Sen. Lee.I think he is wrongheaded but I also think there is a reasonable conservative argument for his position. I think he is wrongheaded because, as you say, if we do stop immigration there will be no conservative position to uphold.

[JonPreston]

#14: Well said.

[Ahithophel]

Speaking of appointments and elections, its interesting to note that 150 years ago, in 1869, Nathan Bedford Forrest was the first Grand Wizard elected in the Klu Klux Klan, a group composed at the time of mostly Confederate veterans committed to violent intimidation of blacks, northerners and republicans. Rep. Mike Lee appeals to fans of all sorts, it seems.

[nathanbedford]

http://www.freerepublic.com/~nathanbedford/

[frog in a pot]

...the Democrats have become so rabidly extreme that one cannot expect them to do other than pass any expedient in violation of the Constitution which accelerates their grasp of power. ... The Democrat party ain't your father's party.

And that, sir, is the cold reality of the present and active threat to our Constitution. (See tag line.)

[PapaBear3625]

Judicial Vacancies: 152 vacancies with 68 nominees, out of 890 total judge positions.

Breakdown by court

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is authorized 29 judgeships. There are four vacancies. Ninth Circuit district courts are authorized 112 judgeships. There are 24 vacancies with two future vacancies announced.

Of current 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges, nine are Obama appointees (which explains a lot)

[Ahithophel]

Thank you for having the good sense to not deny that Nathan Bedford Forrest was the first Grand Wizard of the Klan, and describing him as "a living biblical parable" doesn't diminish that fact. He may not have been your first choice, but he was, I'm sure we can all agree, your choice.