Posted on 03/02/2009 8:46:11 PM PST by cc2k
March 2, 2009
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We look forward to working with you as you consider nominees for the federal judiciary. Unfortunately, the judicial appointments process has become needlessly acrimonious. We would very much like to improve this process, and we know you would as well. It is in that spirit that we write early on to suggest two steps your Administration can take to achieve that shared goal.
First, in the beginning of his Administration, your predecessor demonstrated his desire to improve the judicial confirmation process by nominating to the circuit courts two of President Clinton’s previous judicial nominees, Judge Barrington Parker to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge Roger Gregory to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. It would help change the tone in Washington if your Administration would take the same bipartisan step. Because the last Congress sadly set the modern record for the fewest circuit court confirmations in a President’s final Congress, there are plenty of well-qualified nominees with bipartisan support from whom to choose. For example, Peter Keisler has been praised repeatedly by colleagues in both the public and private sector, Democrats and Republicans, and has earned accolades from major media observers, like The Washington Post. And Judges Glen Conrad and Paul Diamond both enjoyed bipartisan support and have outstanding records on the federal trial bench.
Second, as our Democratic colleagues have emphasized for the last several years, the process of federal appointments is a shared constitutional responsibility. We respect your responsibility to nominate suitable candidates for the federal bench. And as a former colleague, we know you appreciate the Senate’s unique constitutional responsibility to provide or withhold its Advice and Consent on nominations. The principle of senatorial consultation (or senatorial courtesy) is rooted in this special responsibility, and its application dates to the Administration of George Washington. Democrats and Republicans have acknowledged the importance of maintaining this principle, which allows individual senators to provide valuable insights into their constituents’ qualifications for federal service.
We hope your Administration will consult with us as it considers possible nominations to the federal courts from our states. Regretfully, if we are not consulted on, and approve of, a nominee from our states, the Republican Conference will be unable to support moving forward on that nominee. Despite press reports that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee now may be considering changing the Committee’s practice of observing senatorial courtesy, we, as a Conference, expect it to be observed, even-handedly and regardless of party affiliation. And we will act to preserve this principle and the rights of our colleagues if it is not.
Because of the profound impact that life-tenured federal judges can have in our society, the Founders made their appointment a shared constitutional responsibility. We look forward to working with you to discharge this important duty in the best interest of our country.
Sincerely,
All Republican Senators
Cc: The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
me:”Don’t worry. By 2012 there’ll be 73 R-Senators.”
you;”Only if the GOP can get its sorry act together.”
Evens Dems will vote for anybody by that time.
LOL...hey this is fun...
P _ _ _ I _ E _ _ Obama.
new movie title “Burn Before Reading”.
Fixed!
Seeing the term "Honorable" associated with Leaky Lying Leahy is infuriating.....
That is one sonuvabitch who has NEVER been or behaved honorably....and to apply the term even as "form", diminishes the meaning and significance of the word.
The GOP is spineless. A kenyan-born ineligble marxist muslim is president and they are sending letters.
The GOP is useless after Snowe, Collins and Specter caved to obama.
I have more faith that Democrat attorney Phil Berg will do something about the usurper.
"STOP...or I shall say STOP again!"
Thank you both!
Oh yeah, that will show him.
Pres__ent Obama, the Kenyan Keynesian.
That’s pretty funny except Obama isn’t even a Keynesian. He’s left that limp Liberal in the dust.
“The Pres__ent. I like that.”
Also, the way he always voted...
“pretty please with a cherry on top” isn’t gonna get them anywhere.
The Republican party is completely ineffectual and impotent at this point.
Until they start thinking like conservatives, acting like conservatives and wishing for bipartisanship that will NEVER come, they will continue to be in the minority.
I’m thoroughly disgusted with this half-assed group of so-called representatives and disgusted with the RNC and it’s lack of leadership. Here we have the new RNC chair out kissing the ass of halfwit talk show hosts rather starting a grassroots reform movement which is sorely needed.
They’ll not get a dime more of my money (and they haven’t for quite some time) until they “get it”. If they never do, then so be it and let the party die. A new one will emerge with principled leadership at some point and all these underachievers can go home and fade into oblivion where they belong.
/rant over
but I feel better now :p
Yup. That’s why I liked it.
Until I see a REAL C.O.L.B. BC,
he’s just “PRES__ENT” Obama = without “ID”
Make that a bumper sticker and I will buy 25!
pm me when they are ready!
Did you not see this coming? Could you have prevented it by having some principles? It is too late now.
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