Free Republic

Senate Democrats took the dramatic step Thursday of eliminating filibusters for most nominations by presidents, a power play they said was necessary to fix a broken system but one that Republicans said will only rupture it further. Democrats used a rare parliamentary move to change the rules so that federal judicial nominees and executive-office appointments can advance to confirmation votes by a simple majority of senators, rather than the 60-vote supermajority that has been the standard for nearly four decades. The immediate rationale for the move was to allow the confirmation of three picks by President Obama to the U.S....

The Senate voted 38-53 against breaking a filibuster of the nomination of Judge Robert Wilkins to the court, after blocking votes on two other D.C. Circuit nominees -- Patricia Millett and Nina Pillard -- earlier this month. "I am deeply disappointed that Senate Republicans have once again refused to do their job and give well-qualified nominees to the federal bench the yes-or-no votes they deserve," the president said in a statement. "The American people and our judicial system deserve better," he later added. "A majority of the United States Senate supports these three extraordinary nominees, and it is time for...