Are Bush's Judicial Nominations Doomed?
With the newly Democratic-controlled Senate, four of President Bush's terrible judicial picks may finally get axed for good, according to Neil Lewis in Sunday's New York Times.
There is a strong consensus that the four most conservative of Mr. Bush’s nominations to the federal appeals courts are doomed. Republicans and Democrats say the four have no chance of confirmation in the next several weeks of the lame-duck Congressional session or in the final two years of Mr. Bush’s term.They are:
- William J. Haynes II, the Pentagon’s chief lawyer who was responsible for the much-criticized military interrogation policies;
- William G. Myers III, a longtime lobbyist for the mining and ranching industries and a critic of environmental regulations;
- Terrence W. Boyle, a district court judge in North Carolina; and
- Michael B. Wallace of Mississippi, a lawyer who was rated unqualified for the court by the American Bar Association.
As to Bush's options at this point:
“Those guys in the White House have governed unilaterally for six years,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as is customary among Congressional staff. “It’s been their way or no way, show no quarter.”
“Does he pivot and become like he was as Texas governor and work with both sides of the aisle,” the official said, “or does he send up these guys again and set us up for hard votes and call the Democrats obstructionist?”
As to the Democrats' strategy:
In the last two years of a presidency, Professor Yalof said, “The priority for the party not in control of the White House is not so much in stopping candidates based on their ideologies, but keeping as many vacancies open as possible on the theory that the next president may be someone of your party and will be able to fill those slots.”
If the Democrats follow that model, he said, they will be following the playbook of the Republicans, who blocked most of Mr. Clinton’s appeals court nominees in his last two years in office.
Whatever it takes to block them, Dems should do it. Here's why on Haynes, Boyle, Meyers and Wallace.
| < 2008 Contenders | Can Chuck Schumer Be Trusted? > |
