[ken5050]

I can somewhat understand why the senate GOP leadership has allowed these to hang out there..though very unfair to the nominees..they had to figure a showdown on the SCOTUS nominees,so better to keep the powder dry for this fight, FIRST...

BTW..one more question you might know...has Bush said anything about naming Roberts' replacement to the DC circuit?..( which in many ways is MORE important than the SCOTUS)..I'd love to see Estrada get it..

[Cboldt]

I can somewhat understand why the senate GOP leadership has allowed these to hang out there..though very unfair to the nominees..they had to figure a showdown on the SCOTUS nominees,so better to keep the powder dry for this fight, FIRST...

I predict that there will be no cloture abuse on the Alito nomination, and that the languishing Circuit Court nominations will not be advanced. To do so would risk confronting the abuse of cloture, and the GOP-lead Senate is averse to that confrontation.

has Bush said anything about naming Roberts' replacement to the DC circuit?

Not that I know of. Neither the Judiciary Committe material not the WH announcements contain any nominations since July 29, 2005, other than Roberts to CJ, Miers and Alito.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/judicialnominees/
http://judiciary.senate.gov/noms/109.pdf