This is one of the worst things Obama did — leaving all those seats vacant.
On the day President Obama took office, there were 55 vacancies on the federal bench. Today there are 82. To be fair, much of the blame for these vacancies rests with Senate Republicans, who ran an unprecedented campaign of obstruction during President Obama’s first term. And the new Senate must fix this problem in January, when a brief window opens up permitting them to enact major filibuster reform with only 51 votes.
The administration cannot lay all the blame for the vacancy crisis at the filibuster’s feet, however. Obama has been genuinely slow to name nominees, and he’s been just as reluctant to throw his political weight behind his judges. In a particularly costly miscalculation, the president turned his most outstanding nominee, future California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu, into a target by nominating him without also nominating several similarly young brilliant progressives at the same time. As a result, every Senate Republican knew where to point their guns, and Liu’s confirmation hearings quickly degenerated into execution by firing squad.
As his second term approaches, Obama must nominate a large slate of Liu-caliber nominees who can provide an intellectual foil to the Kavanaughs, Suttons, and Clarence Thomases of the world (and to those who question my decision to include Thomas on this list of conservative thought leaders, don’t. We underestimate him at our peril).
This issue is way more complex than Millhiser makes it out to be. Is Obama to blame for some of this? Sure he’s the president and he’s to blame for whatever does or doesn’t happen. But the Republicans haven’t funded many of these vacancies. They’ve put holds on many more. They’ve obstructed not only Obama but the Senate committee process. So…..90% of the blame goes to the Republicans and 10% of the blame falls on Obama. Look for some recess appointments. Whether the Congress is in recess or not.
It’s over. The filibuster needs to go now. The instant that the Republicans get control and face payback, the rules will change. Look at the Hastert Rule in the House. There is simply no longer any reason to hesitate. The disability is self imposed. If this is tolerated on judicial nominations, the federal judiciary will be locked into reactionary leanings for decades to come.