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Democrats Better Wake Up When It Comes To the Courts [1]

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Date: 2022-07-13

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (right) and Sen. Dick Durban (AP photo)

You’d think that the fiasco that is our corrupt U.S. Supreme Court would have shown Democrats the importance of filling as many federal judicial openings as possible when they’re in a position to do so by controlling the Senate and the presidency.

You’d think that. Wouldn’t you?

Now, an interesting piece on the Slate website by Christopher Kang – former deputy counsel to President Barrack Obama whose duties included working in the judiciary appointment process – is warning us that slow-moving Democrats are in the process of flushing a good part of that opportunity down the toilet.

In his column -- Democrats are Headed for a Disaster With Unfilled Judicial Vacancies -- Kang writes that after President Joe Biden’s flying start in filling judicial openings, the process has now bogged down to the point that Democrats are on track to leave 60 court vacancies unfilled by the end of this year.

If the GOP gets control of the Senate after that, its leader Sen. Mitch McConnell will be able to block the rest of them, just as he did with Obama’s Supreme Court recommendation Merrick Garland and dozens of lower court nominees.

Now what?

Senate Democrats and the Biden White House need to “push beyond their current practices in order to fill all of the judicial vacancies by the end of this Congress,” Kang wrote. “I know how hard it can be for Democrats to challenge norms, but we have seen Republicans stop at nothing in their relentless push to take and retain control of the federal judiciary to impose their extreme, partisan agenda on a majority of Americans who oppose it.

“That means filling every vacancy, even if it means breaking with the few remaining judicial confirmation process norms left in McConnell’s wake or standing up to Republican senators. Beginning to bring balance to our judiciary is more important than respecting Senate traditions.”

Kang is calling for Democrats to do something they have traditionally had trouble doing – grow a spine and do whatever’s necessary to get the job done and override Republican obstructionism.

Here are Kang’s suggestions:

*The White House needs to get more aggressive. There are more than 80 judicial vacancies without nominees out of 119 announced openings. One cause is “too much White House deference to senators” – both Democratic and Republican.

*The Biden administration needs to be tougher in enforcing its deadlines for senators of the president’s party to recommend district court candidates in their states, which is a longstanding tradition. The White House told Democratic senators to submit these recommendations within 45 days of a vacancy being announced, but many of them are ignoring this deadline.

*Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin and the White House must be willing to bypass a Senate tradition known as blue slips, which allows any senator to functionally veto district court nominees in his or her own state. It’s important to know that when Republicans controlled the Senate under President Donald Trump, they ignored blue slips from Democrats.

*The Senate Judiciary Committee must speed up the hearing process. Its current pace will leave dozens of slots unfilled heading into the next Congress. Republicans under Trump scheduled additional hearings and increased the number of nominees who can be considered at each hearing. For instance, they held hearings in consecutive weeks and while the Senate was in recess.

*Finally, Democrats must speed up the Senate confirmation process to counter Republicans doing what they can to slow it down. This means Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must take charge and order the body to skip or delay recesses and stay in Washington over weekends to vote if necessary.

You can read Kang’s piece here.

Do you see a trend here? Democratic cluelessness, lack of urgency, falling asleep at the wheel.

You’d think after seeing how Republicans have addressed the courts – especially the Supreme Court – that Democratic leadership would be in tune with the need to fill as many vacancies as humanly possible before their ability to do so evaporates.

Do they get it? Incredibly, a judiciary committee aide recently told Bloomberg News that “I don’t think there’s any reason for us to change the way we’re operating.”

Now, we look to guys like Schumer and Durbin to display aggressive leadership. Is that even possible for these two?

Now would be as good a time as any for them to start.

***

Thank you for reading my post. You can see more of my writings on my blog: Musings of a Nobody.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/13/2110088/-Democrats-Better-Wake-Up-When-It-Comes-To-the-Courts

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