Sen. Durbin Floor Statement on Sri Srinivasan nomination and need to fill D.C.Circuit and other vacancies
(Democrat - Illinois) 05/23/13
"The D.C. Circuit urgently needs the Senate to confirm judges to serve on that court. Right now, there are only 7 active status judges on the D.C. Circuit. There are supposed to be 11. This vacancy situation is untenable. Retired D.C. Circuit Judge Patricia Wald, who served as the chief judge of the Circuit for 5 years, recently wrote in the Washington Post that ``There is cause for extreme concern that Congress is systematically denying the court the human resources it needs to carry out its weighty mandates.'' In 2010 the President nominated another well-qualified attorney, former New York solicitor general Caitlin Halligan, to serve on the D.C. Circuit, but she was filibustered twice by Senate Republicans.... The Senate urgently needs to address the vacancy situation on the D.C. Circuit. We can start by confirming Mr. Srinivasan . We should then work to confirm other qualified nominees to fill vacancies in the D.C. Circuit and across the Federal judiciary."

Sen. Coons Floor Statement on Sri Srinivasan nomination and need to fill other D.C. Circuit vacancies
(Democrat - Delaware) 05/23/13
"He is one of the single most qualified judicial nominees I have seen in my years in this body, and he deserves better than the games which have been played with his confirmation.... When the President submits a highly qualified candidate of good character and sound legal mind, as that of Mr. Srinivasan , then absent exceptional circumstances that candidate should be entitled to a rollcall vote. Up to this point in President Obama's administration--nearly 1,600 days--the Senate has failed to live up to its responsibility and to confirm any nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is often called the second most important court in the Nation. Similar to the Supreme Court, the D.C. Court of Appeals handles cases that impact Americans all over the country and from all walks of life. It regularly hears cases that range very broadly from terrorism and detention to the scope of Federal agency power. Yet today it is critically understaffed. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has not seen a nominee confirmed since President George W. Bush's fourth nominee to that court was confirmed in 2006--7 years ago. Republicans in this Chamber filibustered President Obama's nominee, Caitlin Halligan, until she ultimately--after hundreds and hundreds of days of waiting across several Congresses--gave up and withdrew. Her opponents said the caseload at the D.C. Circuit was too low and that it did not deserve another judge. Such concerns about caseload did not prevent the Republican-led Senate from confirming two nominees to the 10th seat on the D.C. Circuit and one to the 11th. Mr. Srinivasan is not nominated for the 10th or 11th seat on the D.C. Circuit but for the 8th."

Sen. Leahy: Senate Votes To Confirm D.C. Circuit Court Nominee
(Democrat - Vermont) 05/23/13
“For the second time this year, the Majority Leader was forced to file cloture on one of President Obama’s well-qualified nominees to the D.C. Circuit,” Leahy said. “Sri Srinivasan is not a nominee who should require cloture to be filed, and neither was Caitlin Halligan.” ... Leahy further criticized the Republican legislation that attempts to strip the D.C. Circuit of three judgeships based on alleged caseload concerns. He pointed out that Republicans “had no concerns with supporting President Bush’s four Senate-confirmed nominees to the D.C. Circuit. Those nominees filled the very vacancies for the ninth, tenth, and even the eleventh judgeship on the court that Senate Republicans are demanding be eliminated now that President Obama has been reelected by the American people.” “The arguments now being made by Senate Republicans to eliminate three seats on the D.C. Circuit are not based in the reality of that court’s caseload,” he said. “Even if we do make these misleading comparisons to other Circuits, the arguments also do not withstand scrutiny, since other Circuits have caseloads that are lower than the D.C. Circuit’s. The D.C. Circuit’s need for judges will not be met by Sri Srinivasan alone. We must work hard to fill the three additional vacancies currently on that court so that the D.C. Circuit can have its full complement of judges to decide some of the most important cases to the American people.”

Sen. Leahy Floor Statements on Delayed and Blocked Judicial Nominees
(Democrat - Vermont) 05/20/13
"For Judge Chappell in particular, this day is long overdue. She was nominated almost a year ago, and was one of the 11 nominees who Senate Republicans refused to vote on before the end of the last Congress. They delayed her confirmation even though she had the support of every single Republican on the Judiciary Committee, and the bipartisan support of her home state Senators, Senator Nelson and Senator Rubio. They delayed her confirmation even though she is nominated to fill a judicial emergency vacancy that has been vacant for over 400 days. When I say that President Obama's qualified, consensus nominees have faced unprecedented levels of delay and obstruction, this is precisely what I have been talking about.... Senate Republicans claim that they have blocked only two of President Obama's nominees, but they are not being fair in that characterization. They blocked nominees like Robert Chatigny and Louis Butler by refusing to allow the Senate to vote on them. They blocked nominees like Victoria Nourse, Arvo Mikkanen, and Elissa Cadish by refusing to return blue slips. They even blocked Steve Six by rescinding the blue slips after the nominee had already had a hearing."

Sen. Boxer: Senate Confirms William Orrick as U.S. District Court Judge for California's Northern District; Senator Boxer Recommended Orrick’s Nomination to the White House
(Democrat - California) 05/15/13
“William Orrick will be an outstanding addition to the Northern District bench and I am so pleased the Senate has confirmed him,” Senator Boxer said. “He brings a depth of legal experience in both the public and private sectors, which will make him a tremendous asset to the court.” California’s Northern District has been designated as a judicial emergency district by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts because of the backlog of cases and shortage of federal judges. ... "The caseload in the Northern District is 24 percent above the national average, at 631 weighted filings per judgeship. Civil cases that go to trial in the Northern District now take over 34 months to get to trial – up from 21 months just a year ago."

Sen. Warren Floor Statement on Obstruction of Nominees and Judicial Vacancies
(Democrat - Massachusetts) 05/15/13
"[W]e have never seen anything like this. Time and again, Members of this body have resorted to procedural technicalities and flatout obstructionism to block qualified nominees. At the moment, there are 85 judicial vacancies in the U.S. courts, some of which are classified as ``judicial emergencies.'' That is more than double the number of judicial vacancies at the comparable point during President George W. Bush's second term. Yet right now there are 10 nominees awaiting a vote in the Senate, and they have not gotten one. ... When Congress convened in January, many of us, both veterans and newcomers, were concerned that this kind of obstructionism would persist in the new Congress. We pushed hard for changes to the filibuster rules. We understood passions on both sides of the issue, and we listened to our colleagues. Ultimately, the two sides reached a compromise, a compromise that many of us were concerned about, but it included a clear understanding that the Democrats would not make substantial changes to the filibuster and, in return, the Republicans would not abuse its use. But in the past 3 months, abuse has been piled on abuse. Republicans have prevented votes on judges, on agency heads, and on administration Secretaries. This is wrong. Republicans can vote no on any nominee they choose, but blocking a vote is nothing more than obstructionism. Blocking the business of government, the business of protecting people from cheating credit card companies, from mercury in the water or from unfair labor practices must stop."

Sen. Leahy Floor Statement on Judicial Nominations and unprecedented delays and obstruction by Senate Republicans
(Democrat - Vermont) 05/09/13
"Senate Republicans who take such pride in the number of nominees being confirmed this year ignore how many were needlessly delayed from confirmation last year and what they have done during the last 4 years. That is why after the 14 confirmations this year, we remain more than 20 confirmations behind the pace we set for President Bush's circuit and district nominees, and vacancies remain nearly twice as high as they were at this point during President Bush's second term. For all their self-congratulatory statements, they cannot refute the following: We are not even keeping up with attrition. Vacancies have increased, not decreased, since the start of this year. President Obama's judicial nominees have faced unprecedented delays and obstruction by Senate Republicans. We have yet to finish the work that could and should have been completed last year. There are still a dozen judicial nominees with bipartisan support being denied confirmation. A recent report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service compares the whole of President Obama's first term to the whole of President Bush's first term, and the contrast could not be more clear. ... It is true that some vacancies do not have nominees. I wish Republican home State Senators would work with President Obama to fill these vacancies. ... The Judicial Conference recently released their judgeship recommendations. Based upon the caseloads of our Federal courts, the conference recommended the creation of 91 new judgeships. That is in addition to the 86 judgeships that are currently vacant. This means that the effective vacancy rate on the Federal bench is over 18 percent. A vacancy rate this high is harmful to the individuals and businesses that depend on our courts for speedy justice."

Sen. Cornyn and Cruz join bipartisan proposed new judgeships amendment to immigration bill
(Republican - Texas) 05/07/13
Amendment intended to be proposed to S. 744, the comprehensive immigration bill would create three new judgeships in the Eastern District of California; two in the District of Arizona; two in the Western District of Texas; one in the Southern District of Texas, and would convert to permanent judgeships one existing temporary judgeship in the District of Arizona and one in the Central District of California.

Sen. Flake joins bipartisan proposed new judgeships amendment to immigration bill
(Republican - Arizona) 05/07/13
Amendment intended to be proposed to S. 744, the comprehensive immigration bill would create three new judgeships in the Eastern District of California; two in the District of Arizona; two in the Western District of Texas; one in the Southern District of Texas, and would convert to permanent judgeships one existing temporary judgeship in the District of Arizona and one in the Central District of California.

Sen. Leahy: Senate Votes To Confirm Kelly To Eighth Circuit
(Democrat - Vermont) 04/24/13
On average President Obama’s circuit court nominees wait 132 days for a vote in the Senate, compared to just 18 days for President Bush’s nominees. While Kelly was quickly approved after pending one month on the Senate calendar, 12 other judicial nominees still await consideration, including four who were held over from last year. Leahy called on the Senate to vote on those nominees.

Sen. Gillibrand Floor Statement
(Democrat - New York) 04/18/13
"Today, women make up only 30 percent of the Federal bench. According to the National Women's Law Center, only 66 women of color currently serve as active Federal judges--that is less than 10 percent of the Nation's active Federal bench. We have to do better. Judge Torres's nomination has been pending before this body for over 150 days. I urge my colleagues to put aside partisan differences and help us move forward on the 14 judicial nominees who have been forced to deal with this unprecedented delay. I remind my colleagues that greater diversity, of gender, ethnicity and professional backgrounds, are not just ideals that we should aspire to, but steps we must take to have a judiciary that is more diverse, and more reflective of the great country we live in."

Sen. Leahy Floor Statement on Obstruction of Judicial Nominations
(Democrat - Vermont) 04/15/13
" It is really incomprehensible that so many judgeships were forced to remain vacant for so long when there was no actual opposition to these consensus nominees. ... The fact is that we have these 15 nominees waiting for a vote. All Senate Democrats are prepared to vote on all of them today. Before Republicans take refuge in the number of vacancies without a nominee, they should be honest about their slow-walking the President on recommendations for nominees from their home States. For example, there are 24 emergency vacancies in States represented by Republican Senators. Over 40 percent of all judicial emergency vacancies are in just 3 States, each of which is represented by 2 Republican Senators. Those Senators should be working with the White House to fill those vacancies."

Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On [Grassley cut the D.C. Circuit bill &] the Nomination of Judge Beverly O’Connell
(Democrat - Vermont) 04/15/13
"In connection with the wrongheaded filibuster of the nomination of Caitlin Halligan, an outstanding nominee to the D.C. Circuit, I urged them to abandon their misguided efforts that sacrifice outstanding judges for purposes of partisan payback. Regrettably, their response seems to be to expand their efforts through a “wholesale filibuster” of nominations to the D.C. Circuit and a legislative proposal to strip three judgeships from the D.C. Circuit. ... they had no concerns with supporting President Bush’s four Senate-confirmed nominees to the D.C. Circuit. Those nominees filled the very vacancies for the ninth, tenth and even the eleventh judgeship on the court that Senate Republicans are demanding be eliminated now that President Obama has been reelected by the American people. ... It its April 5, 2013 letter, the Judicial Conference of the United States, chaired by Chief Justice John Roberts, sent us recommendations “based on our current caseload needs.” They do not recommend stripping judgeships from the D.C. Circuit but state that they should continue at 11. Four are currently vacant. According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, the caseload per active judge for the D.C. Circuit has actually increased by 50 percent since 2005, when the Senate confirmed President Bush’s nominee to fill the 11th seat on the D.C. Circuit. When the Senate confirmed Thomas Griffith – President Bush’s nominee to the 11th seat in 2005 – the confirmation resulted in there being approximately 119 pending cases per active D.C. Circuit judge. There are currently 188 pending cases for each active judge on the D.C. Circuit, more than 50 percent higher."

Sen. Coons Opening Statement: Chairing a Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing
(Democrat - Delaware) 04/10/13
"Today, 1541 days after President Obama has taken office, four of the 11 seats on the D.C. Circuit are open, putting the remaining judges under undue strain. There are now 188 pending cases per active judge on the D.C. circuit, 50% higher than when the Senate confirmed Thomas Griffith to fill the 11th seat in 2005. Although the cases handled by the D.C. Circuit are unusually complex, the caseload per judge on that court is higher than that of the 10th Circuit, to which the Senate recently confirmed Robert Bacharach."

Sen. Reid statement on judicial nominations
(Democrat - Nevada) 04/09/13
"As I spoke on the floor yesterday, scores -- scores -- of people have been blocked -- 57 to be exact, where there have been actual filibusters on the floor," said Reid. "But scores and scores have been stopped in other means, with holds and secret holds and other things of that nature. We have a number of judicial emergencies around the country. That means you have too many cases, not enough judges. So I'm watching very closely, as are the American people, how we fare on nominations."