Political Quotes

“today, for only the fourth time in over 70 years, we will confirm a Federal judge during a lame-duck session in a Presidential election year. According to the Congressional Research Service, the Senate has confirmed judicial nominees during a lame-duck session in a Presidential election year on only three occasions since 1940. It occurred in 1944, 1980, and 2004. So for those who say we are treating this President differently, I would say we have treated him far better than most Presidents have been. This year we have already confirmed 31 District Judges and five circuit judges. That meets or exceeds the confirmations for Presidential election years in recent memory. That is more confirmations than we did in 2008; it exceeds the district confirmations in 2004 and ties the circuit confirmations for that year. It is the same number of district confirmations in 2000, and it is considerably more than we confirmed in 1996. So for the past five Presidential election years, this year stands near the top for judicial confirmations. Yet, despite that record, and despite the fact that we are about to confirm yet another district court nominee, all we hear from the other side are complaints. I must say, it makes it quite difficult to work cooperatively with the other side when, no matter what you do, all you hear are complaints.…”