Posted on 06/10/2005 7:14:16 PM PDT by Libloather
Senate deal is done: Three judges are confirmed
The Associated Press
June 10, 2005 6:01AM
WASHINGTON - The GOP-controlled Senate approved former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor and Michigan nominees David McKeague and Richard Griffin Thursday for seats on the U.S. Appeals Court, completing an unprecedented run of long-delayed judicial confirmations.
With a vote of 53-45, Pryor was approved for 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Atlanta-based court that handles federal appeals from Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Griffin was confirmed 95-0 and McKeague 96-0, both for seats on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
''These three nominees have waited a combined total of over eight years for their votes,'' President Bush said in a statement. ''I applaud the Senate for today giving these fine nominees the up-or-down votes they deserve.''
Bush gave Pryor a recess appointment in February 2004 after Democrats filibustered his confirmation. That appointment would have ended this year if Pryor had not been confirmed. Bush said Pryor's service on the 11th Circuit built on a judicial career in which he ''has applied the law fairly and impartially to all people.''
Pryor, 43, watched the vote over the Internet in his office in Birmingham, Ala. Aides brought out cake and champagne to celebrate.
''What a day,'' Pryor said. ''We even managed to get an opinion out.''
The Senate confirmed three of President Bush's most-wanted appellate nominees in less than three weeks after Senate centrists looking to avoid a partisan battle over judicial filibusters struck a deal.
Pryor, Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen all had been waiting at least two years for Senate confirmation. Democrats have blocked the nominations of judges they consider too conservative.
Democrats had blocked Griffin and McKeague because Michigan's senators were upset at Republicans for refusing to confirm President Clinton's nominees to that court. While the two were not part of the filibuster deal, Democrats decided to allow them through as a gesture of good will.
''I could not be more pleased and proud that Judge Bill Pryor was part of the group that were agreed upon by those members of the Senate to get an up-or-down vote,'' said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., whose own nomination as a federal judge the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected in 1986. ''Bill Pryor is the kind of judge America ought to have.''
Democrats had fought to keep Pryor from getting a permanent judgeship. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., sued to get Pryor removed because he felt Bush's recess appointment was illegal. The courts rejected Kennedy's argument. ''After the president didn't get his way with William Pryor, he took the truly extraordinary step of making a recess appointment,'' said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. ''So while the renomination of rejected judges was a thumb in the eye, the recess appointment of Bill Pryor was a punch in the face.''
It takes 60 votes to bypass a filibuster. Republicans were able to get 53 votes for Pryor in July 2003 and 51 votes that November. On Wednesday the Senate voted 67-32 to end Pryor's filibuster.
The Senate also plans to advance the nomination of Terrence Boyle, a North Carolina judge nominated to the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Va., though a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee was delayed.
Caption Clinton
I guess it all depends on your perspective. If you hate America, freedom, and conservative judges then the White House is not your friend. Sorry if this opinion confuses you. Have a nice day.
In this day and age, you cannot do both. What is their view on Lochner, Roe v Wade, affirmative action, etc?
The White House hardly is a friend of the Constitution.
3 solid conservative judges confirmed today, long overdue, but you can't celebrate. You can only attack Republicans. We know what side you're on FRiend.
3 solid conservatives? Hmmm...one of them have openly sold out (Pryor), the other guy has been one on the bench for 20 years without challenging the status quo (as is evidenced by Democrats not trying to block him). Don't know much about the third guy, but again since the Democrats raised no objection I am guessing he is amenable to their ideas.
I already quoted this to you in post 12...''These three nominees have waited a combined total of over eight years for their votes,''...you're not too bright.
This is how the gang of 14 are attempting to usurp the Constitution. It's not reality. It certainly is no reason to celebrate the approval of the three judges.
The above is worth reflecting upon. The Liberal-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee of 1986 rejected Jeff Sessions for being too Conservative...in retaliation, the Great State of Alabama rallied and returned him to Washington, D.C. as our very next Senator...where he now resides on that very same Senate Judiciary Committee.
Payback.
These Democratic Party stunts, such as filibustering Judge Pryor, Pickering, Owen, etc...are yet more reasons why the Heartland has thoroughly reversed the decades-old control that the Democratic Party once had in this region.
Likewise, the Democrats will lose Senate seats again in 2006...a trend that continues because the Democrats are offering nothing *positive* to most of the country.
You repeat someone else's comments verbatim. Makes you a White House parrot. Combined wait of 8 years? Sort of a disingenuous remark given that one person has waited longer than the other two. BTW, a 95-0 vote is solid endorsement that these two guys are party tools and will never be damning against the government. You are a tool and they are your brethren. I am bright enough to know not to be one.
Come on. Everyone in govt usurps the Constitution, except for a handful. It is a qualification to hold any govt position.
What you said.
Are you opposed to all political parties or just the Republican party?
I am opposed to all tools. Don't flame me, it won't work.
What does that mean?
You don't like David McKeague and Richard Griffin? Document for this thread why you dislike the two.
Neither faced any opposition from the Democrats. Look at the politics of the sixth circuit and you will answer your own question. Why are they allowed to sit in the sixth but Saad isn't?
It means what I said.
I cant believe I am arguing with a Freeper that Pryor, McKeague and Griffin are conservative judges who have unfairly been denied a vote for far too long. You call Pryor a sell out with nothing to back it up, and speculate that the other 2 are liberal because the rats after all this crap have finally been force to confirm them. No one should take you seriously. Have a nice day.
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