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Democrats to block end-of-year judges package
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), under pressure from groups on the left, will not agree to a customary year-end package of judicial nominees, according to a Senate Democratic aide.
Schumer and his Democratic colleagues are in no mood to agree to a year-end deal after a federal judge in Texas struck down the entire Affordable Care Act last week, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
The judge, Reed O’Conner, was a George W. Bush appointee confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote in 2007 — when Democrats held the majority.
Schumer brushed off questions about if letting O’Connor clear by a voice vote in 2007 was a “bad deal,” telling NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday that senators couldn’t predict how a district judge would rule more than a decade after his nomination was before the Senate.

“There was no deal, I don’t think, on this judge. He was a nominee to the district court. No one brought up anything. No one knew how he’d rule in the future. And you know, it’s an awful ruling. Let’s make no mistake about it,” Schumer said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Senate Democrats are also upset over Republicans not respecting the Senate’s blue-slip tradition, which gives both senators from a judicial nominee’s home state power to hold up his or her nomination.
Senate leaders usually agree to a package of judicial and executive nominees before major holiday recess. Judicial nominees, in particular, have been a top priority of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who views them as the party’s best chance to shape the political leaning of the country for decades.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/422085-democrats-to-block-end-of-year-judges-package