Chuck Grassley: “lately, there has been a lot of talk about Chief Justice Rehnquist's ``Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary.'' As…”

“lately, there has been a lot of talk about Chief Justice Rehnquist's ``Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary.'' As chairman of the Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, I have an added interest in what the Chief Justice has to say. According to some, the Chief Justice's report indicates that the federal judiciary suffers from a partisan produced ``vacancy crisis.'' Indeed, some critics have gone so far as to feverishly conclude that the Senate's Constitutionally mandated confirmation process has become an ``obstruction of justice.'' Caught up in this frenzy, some Democrats have come to the Senate Floor blaming many, if not all, of the judiciary's problems on vacancies. Vacancies, however, are not the source of the problem. Despite assertions to the contrary, the Chief Justice could not have been more clear on this point: Vacancies are the consequence of what he perceives to be an overburdened judiciary. In fact, the Chief Justice pointed out that it is the judiciary's increased size and expanded jurisdiction that is the major threat to justice in the United States.”