Hatch Misleads on Judicial Filibusters
Sen. Orrin Hatch’s Dec. 16 letter on judicial filibusters may be accurate, but it is highly misleading. He states that “before the 108th Congress, no majority-supported judicial nomination had been defeated by the filibuster.” He also states, “Every Clinton judicial nominee reaching the Senate floor received an up or down vote.” What Hatch omits is the fact that during the Clinton years, the Republican majority stopped any judicial nominee it did not like before he or she got to the floor of the Senate. Some were held up by a single senator’s opposition. Others never received hearings in the Judiciary Committee. The majority in Congress can block any nominee without ever having a vote.
The filibuster is the protection for the minority. The Democrats cannot block judicial nominees they believe are unqualified or are prejudicial to constitutional liberties in committee or by withholding their support. Their only weapon is the filibuster.
Hatch is disingenuous when he claims President Bush has suffered more blocked court appointments than President Clinton. Look at all the numbers -- and the Republican record is clear. More Clinton appointees failed to get approval than the few the Democrats have blocked through the filibuster.
There is more than one way to block a nomination, and attacking the filibuster in this way is fundamentally dishonest.
Catherine Burke
San Gabriel
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