It’s Not Just The Supreme Court. Republicans Are Screwing Lots Of Other Courts Too.

It’s Not Just The Supreme Court. Republicans Are Screwing Lots Of Other Courts Too.
GOP senators are barely confirming judicial nominees — even their own.
04/08/2016 05:54 pm ET

Some snails glide at a faster pace than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is confirming federal judges.


WASHINGTON — It sucks to be Merrick Garland right now. He was nominated to the job of his life — Supreme Court justice — and Republicans won’t even give him a vote. It’s not that they have bad things to say about him; they just don’t want President Barack Obama to fill the empty court seat.

It’s worth noting there are 46 other Merrick Garlands. That is, 46 other judicial nominees are in the same boat. They’re not in line for the Supreme Court, but like Garland, they’re nominees to federal courts who aren’t getting votes (except one, who just got scheduled for a Monday vote). That’s because GOP leaders don’t want to confirm judges until 2017. By then, they hope, a Republican will be in the White House and will put forward nominees they like better.

Not only are they screwing the judicial branch of government by dragging out confirmations — when vacancies pile up on district and circuit courts, people’s cases can get delayed for years and judges burn out — but they’re screwing themselves. Some GOP senators really need judicial nominees confirmed, but are being denied by their own party leaders.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-supreme-court-vacancy_us_57052f3ee4b05376618853c4