Orrin Hatch: “The President effectively agreed this seat should be filled by a North Carolinian. By nominating Roger Gregory, a…”

“The President effectively agreed this seat should be filled by a North Carolinian. By nominating Roger Gregory, a Virginian, for the seat instead of a North Carolinian, the President sought to avoid the traditional practice of seeking the 'advice and consent' of the Senators from the State where the judgeship is located about which local lawyer should be nominated. It is very late in the session to be considering a circuit court nomination. Some nominations can move through the confirmation process quickly, but only where the White House has dealt with the Senate on nominations in good faith. The Arizona nominations we are debating today moved through the confirmation process quickly because the White House did work closely with Senator Kyl and negotiated in good faith over which Arizonans should get these lifetime appointments. In contrast, the White House has not dealt with the Senate on nominations in good faith. During our August recess, the President determined to recess appoint several executive branch officials over the express objections of numerous Senators. Furthermore, Democrats stood in the way of these four nominees we are debating today, the President's nominees, and they threatened to shut down the work of the Senate. This is hardly good faith.”