Patrick Leahy: “these confirmations will be the 207th and 208th of 218 nominees brought before the full Senate for a vote to be…”

“these confirmations will be the 207th and 208th of 218 nominees brought before the full Senate for a vote to be confirmed. The Senate will have confirmed four more lifetime appointments to the Federal courts this year. With the year being almost one-third concluded, the Republican majority is gaining on the pace it set in 1999 when Senate Republicans allowed President Clinton to appoint only 17 district court judges and not a single nominee to the circuit courts that entire session. These 208 judicial confirmations mean that even with the slow start this year because the President has refused to nominate consensus nominees, or anyone for 29 judicial vacancies, we are currently within 37 confirmations of the 6-year total achieved under the Senate Republican majority during the Clinton administration. That means if the Senate confirms another dozen judges this year and 30 next year, we will have equaled the total of which Senate Republicans were so proud during the Clinton years. The year I chaired the Judiciary Committee, the Senate confirmed 72 of President Bush's nominees. If the President and Senate Republicans would work with us rather than foment conflict and confrontation, we could easily surpass their record. Of the 45 judicial vacancies that will remain after these confirmations, President Bush has not even sent nominees for 29 of those vacancies.…”