Patrick Leahy: “I assume the opponents of these nominations would want to be recognized, or the Republican majority supporting him. I…”

“I assume the opponents of these nominations would want to be recognized, or the Republican majority supporting him. I understand there are three Republicans to speak on the judges and one Democrat is allowed to speak. No one is here, so I will speak. I will support this nominee, Michael Barrett. He has the support of his home State Senators. I have also heard from both Democrats and Republicans in Ohio. That makes it worth supporting. In fact, the nomination of such consensus nominees is an indication of what should be done in States, and would lead to the confirmation of more judges. In January 2001, we were following a shutdown of judges going through. As the distinguished Presiding Officer knows, the Republicans were determined to block virtually all of President Clinton's judges for a long period of time. I became chairman and for 17 months moved a record number of judges for President Bush, 100. Actually, since 2001, while the Republican majority has not moved President Bush's judicial nominees anywhere near as fast as I did, we have still moved 238. That includes two Supreme Court Justices, and 43 circuit court judges. However, we do have some that create problems. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by the recent withdrawals of several nominees, all too often this White House seems more interested in rewarding cronies and picking political fights than in selecting lifetime appointments after thorough vetting.…”