Yesterday, the Senate confirmed four of President Obama’s district court nominations, two of whom were women, in a unanimous vote. Catherine Eagles will serve in North Carolina, Kimberly Mueller in California, John Gibney in Virginia, and James Bredar in Maryland. Thirty-four of the President’s nominees still await confirmation. The four judges are the first of President Obama’s judicial nominees to be confirmed since mid September. Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) clarified, “The across the board stalling of judicial nominations continues, with many noncontroversial nominations being delayed and obstructed for no good reason. The vast majority of the President’s judicial nominees are consensus nominees and should be confirmed by large bipartisan majorities.” President Obama’s judicial nominations have been stalled more than those of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The Senate has taken approximately three times longer to confirm Obama’s district court nominations compared to the first Congress of the Bush administration. Prior to the confirmation of the four district court judges, only 42 percent of President Obama’s nominations had been confirmed. By contrast, President Clinton had a confirmation rate of 84 percent and President George W. Bush, 87 percent.
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