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CINCINNATI (AP) - Senate confirmation of two judges nominated by President Bush to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals probably will give a conservative bent to what had been a balanced court, experts say. The court hears appeals of federal cases in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. It has been understaffed for years with six Republicans and six Democrats because of an impasse in the Senate. Michigan's senators were upset at Republicans for refusing to confirm President Clinton's nominees to the court. A compromise this month allowed the confirmation of David McKeague, 58, a federal judge in Michigan since...

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...

With three weeks to Election Day, it is time for Republicans to close the deal with swing voters -- independents, Southern and Midwestern moderates, blue-collar households, Catholics, and Hispanics. The tactics of Senate Democrats and their liberal allies are now so nakedly partisan that the judiciary could well become the issue that wins tight Senate races and presidential battleground states for the GOP. (A secondary benefit of campaigning on this issue is that it establishes a clear "judiciary mandate" -- an advantage when addressing the Senate's rule for filibusters and a bonus when the time comes to nominate a Supreme...

Democrats began their seventh filibuster of a Bush judicial nominee yesterday. No Senate has ever filibustered a President's appellate-court nominee before, but never mind. Watch for the number of filibusters to hit double digits by September. The latest victim is William Myers, a nominee from Idaho for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Myers had the misfortune to work in the Bush Interior Department, a job that comes with the liberal label of "extremist." Democrats are using his nomination as an opportunity to bash the Bush Administration on the environment. The Constitution requires a majority of Senators to confirm a President's judicial...

Bush nominee has local support Appeals court choice is sound, his backers say By Kelly Hassett Lansing State Journal Hearing a case from Geoffrey Fieger, one of Michigan's most flamboyant and liberal lawyers, should be enough to elicit a conservative judge's criticism. But not so from U.S. District Judge David McKeague of Lansing, according to McKeague's good friend and fellow Republican Eric Doster. "He was very complimentary of Fieger's courtroom knowledge," said Doster, who had asked his friend about Fieger's performance. "That was his chance to (trash) him and he never did." It's that objectivity, McKeague's supporters say, that would...