The Senate agreed to the cloture motion on the Hurwitz nomination by a 60-31 vote. All Democratic Senators except Manchin (D-WV), both Independent Senators and 8 Republicans Senators voted in favor of ending debate on the nomination. The Republican Senators who voted aye are:

Alexander (R-TN) Brown (R-MA) Collins (R-ME) Kyl (R-AZ)

Lugar (R-IN) McCain (R-AZ) Murkowski (R-AK) Snowe (R-ME)

Ahem

The Senate Executive Calendar shows a confirmation vote scheduled for 10:00am edt tomorrow. I remember the post cloture stalling tactics used on the Adalberto Jose Jordan 11th circuit nomination last February so I'm hesitant to state Hurwitz will be confirmed before lunch tomorrow, but he will be confirmed.

The Senate has just confirmed the Andrew Hurwitz nomination by a voice vote. I did not hear any Senator yell "no" when the chair called for votes opposing this nomination.

FTR: I didn't expect Sen McConnell to allow Senate Republicans to embarrass themselves as they did during the Adalberto Jordan post-cloture confirmation fiasco.

The President sent the Senate two nominations for vacancies on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Neither nomination is going anywhere prior to the election. One of the names (not the one who grew up in Lawrence, KS) should be familiar to many.

Interesting tidbit about one of the nominees:

Sen Grassley notified Senate Democrats that Republicans are invoking the "Thurmond Rule" effective immediately regarding Circuit Court nominees. Apparently District Court nominees are unaffected at this time.

Committee Chairman Sen Leahy made the following response.

Anyone who follows the US Senate has known this event was going to happen this summer. The only question was which day would this notice be effective.

The following are the President's nominees for Circuit Court judgeships that have yet to be confirmed or withdrawn.

Caitlin Joan Halligan (DC Circuit) Motion to invoke cloture failed Dec 6, 2011 (54yea-45nay-1present) Re-nominated June 11, 2012 Patty Shwartz (3rd Circuit) Reported out of committee Mar 8, 2012 (10yea-6nay) Richard Taranto (Federal Circuit) Reported out of committee Mar 29, 2012 (Voice vote w/1 no) Robert Bacharach* (10th Circuit) Reported out of committee June 7, 2012 (Voice vote w/1 no)

William Kayatta (1st Circuit) Reported out of committee Apr 19, 2012 (Voice vote w/2 no) Jill Pryor (11th Circuit) Nominated Feb 16, 2012 Awaiting initial hearing Srikanth Srinivasan (DC Circuit) Nominated June 11, 2012 Awaiting initial hearing

The timing of invoking the Thurmond Rule is worth noting. Of the 4 nominees that have been reported out of committee, only the Shwartz nomination is contentious. The others are supported by almost everyone on the committee (Sen Lee cast his protest no vote on all the above voice votes). I'm somewhat surprised Republicans didn't invoke this rule prior to the Hurwitz cloture motion filing (that shouldn't have caught them off-guard) even though they have waited until at least July in previous presidential election years. Hurwitz was one nominee that most Republicans didn't want on the federal bench.





*Bacharach was nominated as a replacement for Steve Six who was blue slipped by both Sen Roberts (R-KS) and Sen Moran (R-KS).

This Unanimous Consent Agreement has been on the calendar for a couple of days. Mary Lewis is a nominee for a District Court judgeship, not a Circuit Court. There is no mention of a cloture vote for this nomination.


This has been one of the stranger judicial nominations working its way through the Senate. Lewis was nominated Mar 16, 2011 but had to wait until Feb 15, 2012 for her hearing. At her hearing Sen Graham (R-SC) spoke very highly of her leaving me to believe Sen DeMint (R-SC) opposed this nomination enough to warrant blue slipping it for a while. Lewis was reported out of committee on an 11-6 vote with Graham casting the sole Republican yea vote. DeMint has to know that removing her blue slip (if he did) changes her nomination chances from DOA to very probably confirmed. That along with the balance of committee Republicans opposing Lewis is a headscratcher.

Sen Graham's comments about Lewis begin at the 42:15 mark and run to the 44:25 mark
http://www.senate.gov/fplayers/jw57/com ... 2p&st=1100

I just want to take a moment and say Thank you very much for keeping track of the judicial nominations and "other stuff".

You're welcome.

Me too. We get a wealth of information that other political junkies don't get from Joe Ruby.

What to expect now that Senate Republicans are demanding the Senate abide by the Thurmond Rule?

1) Sen Reid agrees with Republicans and announces there will be no additional confirmation votes on circuit court nominees prior to the November election. Confirmation proceedings continue for district court nominees and everybody claims victory.
OR
2) Sen Reid tells Republicans the Thurmond Rule has in the past not been implemented until either the end of July or the beginning of the national Democratic or Republican nominating convention, whichever comes first. Reid tells Republicans he will abide by the Senate tradition beginning August 1.
a) Republicans get pissed and tell Reid all nominations cease immediately.

Note: Senate Republicans have the power to immediately stop all nominations not already reported out of committee. They merely stop attending Judiciary Committee meetings (quorum rules require a minimum of 2 members of the minority party in attendance regardless how many others are present). Those nominations already reported out of committee and on the Senate's Executive Calendar may be stopped only by filibuster. The 4 circuit court nominees listed above (Shwatrz, Taranto, Bacharach and Kayatta) can't be stopped without a filibuster unless Reid agrees to abide by the Thurmond Rule now.

This quote is from Sen Grassley's own press release back on Jan 26, 2012.

Just when you think you've seen it all, you find out you haven't.

I believe Chuckie is pissed and that may well be why Sen McConnell announced that Republicans want the Thurmond Rule invoked immediately.

For some reason I'm reminded of my friends in construction who have been known to say: "You shoulda been there".

Well lookee here. Sen Grassley ripped Sen Reid on the Senate floor Tuesday for having a voice vote on the Andrew Hurwitz confirmation rather than a recorded vote. Grassley blamed Reid for pulling a switch without notifying Republicans.

But guess what really happened.


I may have to modify my response to kate520's post.

The Senate just voted 64-27 to confirm Mary Lewis as a USDC Judge for the District of South Carolina. According to CSPAN2, Lewis was recommended to the President by Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC).

The Senate link listing how each senator voted should be available in about an hour.

Republicans voting in favor of confirmation:

Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Brown (R-MA) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Graham (R-SC)

Hoeven (R-ND) Hutchison (R-TX) Lugar (R-IN) McCain (R-AZ) Murkowski (R-AK) Snowe (R-ME) Wicker (R-MS)

Not your ordinary "advice and consent of the Senate" from start to finish. Sen DeMint's behavior on this nomination is still puzzling.

Sen McConnell may not have the troubles Speaker Boehner has trying to herd cats but two Republican Senators have stated they will not abide by the Thurmond Rule, at least for one circuit court nomination.

McConnell may have some difficulty enforcing the Thurmond Rule. Senators Murkowski and Lugar could tell McConnell to go pound sand without much fallout. Senators Brown (MA) and Graham have ignored the Republican leadership position before on judicial nominations.

The Taranto, Bacharach and Kayatta nominations have been supported by a lot of Republicans. I will not be surprised to read about any of these nominations having a cloture motion filed.

Senate Republicans are apparently still willing to allow confirmation votes for district court judicial nominations while they demand the Thurmond Rule apply to circuit court nominees. There is no mention of a cloture motion for this nominee.

Rosenbaum was favorably reported out of committee Mar 29, 2012 on a voice vote with you-know-who casting the sole no vote. This confirmation will likely be a roll call vote only because the Andrew Hurwitz voice vote June 12 caused Sen Grassley some discomfort.

It's difficult to predict when Senate Republicans will include district court nominees with circuit court nominees as nominations they want to stop prior to the November election. My guess is Republican Senators will demand all judicial confirmations stop the week before the GOP Convention. Should something occur before then that causes Sen Grassley to have another temper tantrum the date could be earlier.

Last week's Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting agenda was completed in a hurry because Senators needed to be on the floor for the Farm Bill that had numerous amendments pending. As a result Sen Grassley didn't have time to fully tell the committee members his objections to the Brian Davis judicial nomination and notified members he would enter those objections into the written record. Grassley's comments were released in a press statement June 21.

FTR: Davis is a Nassau County (FL) Circuit Court Judge who has the support of both his home state Senators Nelson (D-FL) and Rubio (R-FL).
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/20 ... eral-bench

Judge Davis made some comments that could jeopardize his confirmation chances (he was reported out of committee on a party line 10-7 vote). I doubt there will be a Unanimous Consent Agreement reached on this nomination. A cloture motion will probably have to be filed and agreed to prior to any confirmation vote occurring for this nominee.

At the end of Grassley's press statement there is this which I found humorous.

Robin Rosenbaum was confirmed as a USDC Judge for the Southern District of Florida on a 92-3 roll call vote. I imagine most here could take a WAG which 3 Senators voted "nay" but a link is available for any newbies or lurkers.

Sen Leahy spent most of his time reminding Senators the obstructionism tactic presently being used by Senate Republicans is known as the "Thurmond Rule", not the "Thurmond-Leahy Rule". He spoke further about his record forwarding nominations regardless of the party in power in the Senate or White House. Sen Nelson (FL) spoke briefly about Florida's bi-partisan method of recommending judicial nominations to the President.

Sen Leahy speaks from approximately the 01h:09m to the 01h:20m marks. Sen Nelson (FL) speaks from approximately the 01h:58m to the 02h:04m marks. No other Senator, Democratic or Republican, spoke prior to the confirmation vote.
http://floor.senate.gov/MediaPlayer.php ... lip_id=290

The Senate Judiciary Committee held its weekly Executive Business Meeting yesterday but was unable to conduct any business. A sufficient number of Democratic Senators were in attendance but every Republican Senator on the committee was a no-show. A quorum requires 10 members, including a minimum of 2 from the minority regardless how many from the majority are present. Earlier this year when Republicans senators wanted to stop committee proceedings (after the recess appointments), Sen Grassley was the only Republican in attendance. His absence yesterday was especially odd (Grassley is the ranking member).

The net result is all items on the agenda are postponed until the next meeting in two weeks (the Senate will be in recess all next week for Independence Day).

http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/hearing ... b99f3b2503

The Republican national convention is in 7 weeks (Aug 27-30). I anticipate Republican Senators will attempt to implement the "Thurmond Rule" for all judicial nominations, not just circuit court nominees, prior to its start.

Sen Coburn (R-OK) had a valid excuse for not attending. His father-in-law died.

I have a feeling the pissing contests are going to get even livelier in the coming months.

Sen McConnell has agreed for this confirmation vote to occur (no mention of cloture).

I'm disappointed that John Fowlkes is the only nominee listed on this Unanimous Consent Agreement. The first 5 judicial nominees were voice voted en banc and placed on the Senate Executive Calendar the same day. Sen Lee was recorded as voting no for all 5 (Lee's standard protest vote) and Sen Sessions was recorded as voting no only for Kayatta. If Sen Reid is willing to allow Republican Senators to stop the nomination process for all circuit court nominees, I was hoping for him to at least push the district court nominations through.

Shea, Curiel and Shelby were on the agenda for the first time so their nomination was held over until the next meeting (standard stalling tactic that Sen Grassley uses on every nominee).

http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/hearing ... b468c0ce38

Sen Lee has finally given up with his protest votes against judicial nominees. Lee stated last June he would vote for district court judges he believes are qualified as long as circuit court nominees are postponed until after the election.

After the July 30 cloture vote for the Robert Bacharach circuit court nomination failed, Sen Reid decided against pushing any circuit court nominees forward ("Thurmond Rule").

Sen Lee yesterday kept his word regarding protest votes and voted in favor of confirming Stephanie Marie Rose as a USDC Judge for the SD of Iowa. Rose was confirmed
89-1. The link is for anyone who can't guess which senator still won't vote to confirm any of Pres Obama's judicial nominees.

Joe Ruby's back! Yay!

Jeez, dude. Scared the crap outta me. I thought maybe something happened to you!

Sorry Foggy. I needed a break from birthism plus the Senate is in super slow motion until either after the elections (if Pres Obama is re-elected) or the inauguration (if Rmoney wins).

We'll let you off with a warning ... this time.

What is frustrating is the tardiness the White House exhibits in offering nominees to the Senate. During most of the Obama presidency, almost half of the judicial vacancies had no nominee for the Senate to even consider. [The President deserves and gets a break this month. The Senate wasn't in session and he was kinda busy with another matter of national importance.]

Update As Of Nov 12, 2012:
Article III Judicial Vacancies
Circuit Courts---15 Vacancies with 7 Nominees
District Courts--66 Vacancies with 27 Nominees
http://www.uscourts.gov/JudgesAndJudges ... ncies.aspx

The Senate will convene at 2:00pm EST tomorrow. When it does the "Thurmond Rule" is history (until July 2016).

Note: Vacancies and nominees for the court listed as FD-CCA are included with the other circuit courts of appeals. The court listed as IT-CCA is listed with the other district courts.