Dianne Feinstein: “So my point is that much of what has been happening in the Judiciary Committee has been to make it more confrontational.…”

“So my point is that much of what has been happening in the Judiciary Committee has been to make it more confrontational. The blue slips are an excellent case in point. Changing when the American Bar Association ratings are known is a good point. I remember during the Clinton administration when the ratings were done earlier and I had to call a nominee and tell them that because they had been out of the practice of law for a period of time, they were deemed unqualified by the American Bar Association and the President was not going to move their nomination. So without embarrassment to the individual, that nomination was withdrawn. Today, you do not get the American Bar Association's qualified or partially qualified or unqualified rating until after the nominee is on the Hill. Now there are those who do not think the American Bar Association's evaluation is worth anything. There are those on the committee who believe it is. So there is a difference in point of view. But at least have the qualification or nonqualification done early enough so that it can save the individual humiliation and also play a major role. Let me talk for a minute about rule IV because I think rule IV again divided our committee in a way that it did not have to be. Rule IV has been a Senate tradition. It is a rule. It is a hard and fast rule. It prevents closing off debate on a nominee unless at least one member of the minority agrees to do so.”