There's Actually A Strategy Behind Republican Obstructionism, In Fact, Several Strategies, All Contemptible

North Carolinians have reason to be proud of one of these guys today

Another pointlessly obstructed nomination came to absolutely nothing yesterday-- because it was nothing from day one. The Senate confirmed Chris Schroeder of North Carolina 72-24, only the very worst of the "We Want America to Fail" obstructionists voting against it. Even radical right Republicans like Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted yes, as did ultraconservative GOP Judiciary Committee members Orrin Hatch (UT), Chuck Grassley (IA), Lindsey Graham (SC) and Jon Kyl (AZ).

President Obama had nominated Schroeder, a universally respected law professor at Duke University (since 1979), 11 months ago. Not even an obstructionist kook like DeMint could find a bad word to say about Schroeder but, as expected, he voted "no." And, so did home state hate-monger, Richard Burr. Although no one wanted to be identified, other senators were astounded that Burr voted against such a distinguished nominee from his own state who had already been thoroughly vetted by the Judiciary Committee. "I can't say it's unprecedented," one moderate Democrat told us, "but it caught everyone off guard. Burr seems very confused lately and I think he's concerned about bad polling numbers back in North Carolina. He may not win his re-election bid and every vote he makes just tears him apart. I feel badly for the guy; it's kind of sad. He's in over his head. I don't think his vote did him any good today."

One of the reasons he's in over his head is because North Carolina's much-loved Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, the first woman in the North Carolina's history to win statewide office, is challenging him for his Senate seat. She's been calling him out whenever he votes against the state's interests, especially in regard to his patrons on Wall Street. This morning she told us she was glad to see Schroeder finally confirmed but disappointed Burr voted against him. "There's one thing you can say about Richard Burr: he's consistent. He's consistently standing in the way of anything getting done in Washington. This time, he's standing up against the bi-partisan confirmation of a fellow North Carolinian."

So what's going on exactly? President Obama is nominating eminently qualified judges and Justice Department employees, very much within the legal community mainstream and the GOP, as a partisan ploy, has done all they could to slow down the confirmation process to keep the administration from being able to do its job. This is absolutely outrageous because, in effect, these characters are gambling with the well-being of the country to score political points, and are actually attempting to make government fail to make themselves look better to their own anti-government base. This is the "Party of No" strategy.

As Marge Baker, Executive Director of People For the American Way wrote yesterday, "For most of the Senate’s history the vast majority of judicial and executive branch nominees have been approved fairly quickly and without much controversy. Indeed, up until 1949, delays were so rare that the Senate did not even have a rule for cutting off debate through a cloture motion. Most frequently, nominees were confirmed not by roll call votes, but by unanimous consent."

No more.
 
Under President Obama, Senate Republicans have refused to agree to move forward on even the most routine nominations, slowing down the process of confirmation and grinding the business of the Senate to a halt. GOP leaders have objected to unanimous consent agreements and demanded cloture votes they have no expectation of winning simply to chew up valuable legislative time and constrict President Obama’s ability to enact his policies.
 
The result has been nominees subjected to months of GOP foot dragging, only to be confirmed by farcically lopsided votes.
 
Beverly Martin, nominated to a seat on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, was approved unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee, only to be held up for 132 days, at which point she was finally confirmed 97-0.
 
Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr., whom president Obama nominated to a seat on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, also cleared committee unanimously. Greenaway was eventually confirmed 84-0, but not before waiting 131 days for a vote.
 
Greenaway and Martin are not exceptions. Judge Gerald Lynch was forced to wait 98 days before being approved 94-3, Judge Andre Davis waited more than five months to be approved 72-16, and the nomination of Judge Barbara Keenan languished on the Senate floor for 124 days before she was approved 99-0.
 
All of these nominees were eventually confirmed to the Courts of Appeals, but the same pattern of obstruction holds true on the lower federal courts. Several uncontroversial district court nominees who could have quickly and easily been confirmed by unanimous consent have waited weeks for roll call votes:

• Irene Berger waited 26 days to be confirmed 97-0.

• Charlene Honeywell waited 39 days to be confirmed 88-0.

• Jacqueline Nguyen waited 47 days to be confirmed 97-0.

• Roberto Lange waited 20 days to be confirmed 100-0.

In each case, in addition to facing no opposition, the nominee was rated “Well Qualified” by the American Bar Association.
 
And in each case, the nominee could have been confirmed quickly via unanimous consent, but Republicans spent months refusing to allow the process to go forward. It’s clear that these delays aren’t rooted in objections to the nominees themselves, but in a scorched-earth political strategy. And those scorched-earth tactics have serious consequences. At the moment, more than one in eight seats on the Federal Judiciary are currently vacant, leading to lengthy delays in resolving disputes that have profound effects on the lives of millions of Americans.
 
The GOP seems unconcerned with the consequences of this obstruction. But no one else should tolerate this irresponsibility. Republican Senators need to be called on for their obstructionist tactics and held accountable for their disingenuous political strategy.

Is there a strategy even beyond just wanting to slow down the process and keeping President Obama from doing his job? The answer is yes-- and it was also well explained today by People For the American Way in an important study, The Rise of the Corporate Court: How the Supreme Court is Putting Businesses First. It details how the Supreme Court, especially under Reagan and the Bushes has become an ally of corporate interests and abandoned its role as a protector of ordinary American citizens. “Constitutional principles and laws enacted by Congress that protect ordinary Americans are being torn asunder," asserted PFAW president Michael Keegan. "Under our laws and our Constitution everyone, including big business, should be held accountable for their actions. This Court seems all too willing to let the privileged and the powerful prevail over the rights of individual Americans.”