Patrick Leahy: “As Mr. Will noted in 1993, one of the key attributes of the Senate is the venerable tradition of extended debate and…”

“As Mr. Will noted in 1993, one of the key attributes of the Senate is the venerable tradition of extended debate and deliberations. In fact, not until 1917 was there even a provision in the Senate rules to allow for cloture, a procedure by which the Senate acts to cut off debate. The Senate first adopted the cloture rule in 1917. At that time, cloture was limited to and could only be sought on legislative matters. The cloture rule was extended in 1949 to include measures and matters, which includes judicial nominations. Thus, prior to 1949, there was no mechanism to limit debate on nominations, and in fact, disputes over nominations--to the few hundred seats in the federal judiciary--were handled and resolved by Senators behind closed doors. Earlier in this debate today, one Senator indicated that all prior Supreme Court nominees had been given votes. I will just name a few judicial nominees who were not acted upon by the Senate earlier in American history: John M. Read, nominated by President Tyler on February 7, 1845; Edward Bradford, nominated by President Fillmore on August 16, 1852; Henry Stanbery, nominated by President Andrew Johnson on April 16, 1866; and Stanley Mathews, nominated by President Hayes on January 26, 1881. The facts are that many judicial or executive nominations were defeated in the Senate by inaction or by the threat of a filibuster over the years.”