Senate confirms Obama's judicial nominee under new filibuster rule

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/senate-approves-court-nominee-filibuster-rule

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The Senate confirmed a key judicial nominee of President Barack Obama on Tuesday, supplying a quick example of how rule changes enacted last month have shifted power to the majority party and altered the way the chamber does business.

Patricia Millett, a veteran of two presidential administrations, was approved to join the federal appeals court for the Washington DC circuit. She was confirmed by a vote of 56-38, with two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting in favor.

Millett, who was nominated six months ago, was one of three Obama nominees to the DC circuit court that Republicans had blocked. The court is particularly influential, with jurisdiction over cases related to federal agencies, and has been at the center of a broader fight over presidential nominees. 

“I’m pleased that in a bipartisan vote, the Senate has confirmed Patricia Millett to be a judge on the US court of appeals for the district of Columbia circuit, filling a vacancy that has been open since 2005,” Obama said in a statement released after the vote. “Ms Millett is a leading appellate lawyer who has made 32 arguments before the supreme court, the second-most by a female advocate. She has served in the Department of Justice for both Democratic and Republican presidents. I’m confident she will serve with distinction on the federal bench.”

Democrats have long accused Republicans of blocking Obama nominees to advance unrelated legislative goals. Of 128 filibusters of nominees in the history of the Senate, half have occurred during the Obama administration, according to Senate majority leader Harry Reid. Republicans said Democrats were first to make widespread use of the tactic, during the George W Bush administration.

A week before Thanksgiving, Reid put an end to the argument by placing new limits on the use of the filibuster. Under the old system, presidential nominees needed 60 votes. Now, with the exception of supreme court picks, nominees need win over only a majority of voting senators to be confirmed.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday’s confirmation vote was an act of hypocrisy by Democrats. “They did this for one reason: to advance an agenda that the American people do not want,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.

Tuesday’s vote appeared to advance the confirmation prospects of other Obama nominees who have waited months for approval. Robert Wilkins and Cornelia Pillard are nominated to join Millett on the DC circuit court. Other high-profile Obama picks include Mel Watt, a Democratic congressman tapped to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Timothy Massad, chosen to head up the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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