Key Senator’s Verdict on Vacant U.S. Judgeships: Blame Clinton

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reacting to criticism from the chief justice of the United States, said Friday that President Clinton should bear much of the blame for the backlog of vacant federal judgeships.

“The Senate cannot confirm judges that the president does not nominate, nor can the Congress implement litigation reform the president opposes,” said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah).

In his year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist blamed the Senate for “serious delays in the appointment process.”

Rehnquist said 82 of 846 federal judgeships--almost one out of every 10--are vacant, and 26 of those vacancies have existed for 18 months or longer.

He said such a high level of vacancies cannot continue “without eroding the quality of justice that traditionally has been associated with the federal judiciary.”

Hatch, in his statement, responded that “there are more federal judges on the bench today than at any point during the Reagan or Bush administrations.”

He agreed that the judicial selection process can be improved and the workloads of judges can be reduced through civil litigation reform, but he stressed that the Senate can’t act without the cooperation of the president.

In an interview with the New York Times published Friday, Hatch also said Clinton has contributed to the backlog by nominating judges that conservatives find unacceptable.

“The No. 1 problem happens to be activist judges who continue to find laws that aren’t there and expand the law beyond the intent of Congress,” he said.

The White House cited the report in saying the judicial system is more important than “playing partisan politics.”

But Hatch said the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed 36 of the 47 judicial nominees it considered last year. He blamed Clinton for being slow in naming candidates.