On the recordOctober 30, 2017
On judges, Mr. President, this week the majority leader has scheduled votes on four circuit court nominations. It is the first time, in my memory, that the Senate is being asked to process four circuit court judges in a single week. The circuit courts have an immense influence on our country, adjudicating some of the thorniest of legal issues. Only the rarest and most vexing circuit court decisions are appealed to and taken up by the Supreme Court. For this reason, we typically don't sandwich circuit court nominees back to back to back to back only a week--only a week--after they have emerged from committee because Members who are not on the Judiciary Committee usually need time--always need time to review these candidates for such important, powerful, and far-reaching positions. Why has the majority leader departed from this practice? Well, one can argue it is because the Republican agenda has been such a failure in this Congress, the leader has chosen to try and accomplish through the courts what Republicans have been unable to achieve through the legislative process. The Republican agenda has been so unpopular with the American people that it has stalled at every juncture so now they have made a brazen move to pack the courts with activist judges and remake them in their conservative, ideological image. Why has the majority leader done it?…
