Mike Levin: “Cloture is not a new phenomenon when it comes to the debate over judges. Yet we hear now that suddenly the requirement…”

“Cloture is not a new phenomenon when it comes to the debate over judges. Yet we hear now that suddenly the requirement that there be a cloture vote is something that is new to this Senate. It is not. It has been historically used. It is appropriate, and it is rare. As Senator Dorgan pointed out, 93 percent of the judges who were nominated by President Bush were confirmed when there were votes that came to the floor of the Senate. Ninety-three percent of these judges were confirmed. And the comparison to that of the Clinton years, where so many judges could not even get a hearing, where there was a filibuster in the Judiciary Committee because of the refusal to grant judges a hearing, is quite a contrast.”