President Obama Can't Blame Republicans for Lack of Nominations
As Jeffrey Toobin asks where the judges are, this Houston Chronicle article from last week confirms that President Obama is dragging his feet at filling judicial vacancies and nominating U.S. Attorneys.
The stats tell the story. By this point in their administrations Presidents Clinton and W. Bush had nominated 75 and 66 U.S. Attorneys respectively. Obama has nominated only 42.Of the 42 that have been nominated, 31 have been confirmed.
The article notes that the failure to fill the slots has negative consequences:
“There's no real boss. It means what will be done is the routine. You need a guy who can move the team, and he has to be on the president's team,”
In Mississippi there have been no rumblings of political fights with respect to the vacant U.S. Attorney positions or the vacant U.S. District Court position and 5th Circuit Court of Appeals position. Blaming Republicans for the slow pace at filling slots rings hallow when the administrations is going so slowly at making nominations and 75% of those nominated have been confirmed.
Like Mississippi, Texas has all its U.S. Attorney slots still open. The Chronicle article suggests that political fighting is the cause:
A classic political stalemate pitting Texas' Democratic congressional delegation and Obama's administration against Texas' pair of Republican senators is partly to blame for the slowed process here. Similar fights in other states, as well as an especially cautious presidential nominating process, have left most of the nation without freshly appointed lead federal prosecutors, who direct law enforcement priorities and approve work on the big projects.
People understand that the administration has been busy with the health care bill, the wars, the terrorist attack, etc.. But the White House has to be able to multi-task and get things done. If President Obama continues to delay in making nominations, then there will be a growing risk that Republicans can stall long enough to prevent Obama from filling all the vacancies that he inherited or came open in his first year. To Democrats, that would be unconscionable.
Adding to the frustration level for Democrats is that the President could fix the problem on his end in a matter of weeks. He could set a meeting date a few weeks out when Obama and his advisors would review the candidates for each vacancy and the President would make a decision. If the President does not have people working for him who can meet such a deadline, particularly after this long already, then he needs a better staff.
Democrats are frustrated. Republicans are giggling behind the President’s back and the President is starting to look like the Cowardly Lion and a possible one term president. That all needs to change in a hurry.
I hear Christi McCoy's USA nomination went down in flames because of the Republicans. Curtis Ivy seems to be the clean replacement.