How do the Senate confirmation numbers of President Bush’s judicial nominees compare to President Clinton’s?
The following tables show totals for Senate confirmations of both district court and circuit court nominees for the Clinton presidency and the Bush presidency,* by Congress, noting the party in control of the Senate.
President Clinton District court confirmed Circuit Court confirmed Senate controlled by
103rd Cong (93-94) 108 19 Dem
104th Cong (95-96) 62 11 Rep
105th Cong (97-98) 80 20 Rep
106th Cong (99-00) 57 15 Rep
Totals 307 65
President George W. Bush District court Circuit Court Senate controlled by
107th Cong (01-02) 83 17 Dem
108th Cong (03-04) 85 18 Rep
109th Cong (05-06) 35 16 Rep
110th Cong (07-08)* 58 10 Dem
Totals* 261 61
Some basic facts jump out of the data:
Bush’s numbers are significantly lower than Clinton’s, and at the current rate of confirmations in the Democrat-controlled Senate, there is no way that Bush will achieve anywhere close to the number of judges confirmed during the Clinton administration for either the district courts or the higher level circuit courts.
Senate Republicans are often criticized by Democrats for obstructing Clinton’s nominees during the 1990′s. However, Clinton’s confirmation numbers will exceed Bush’s despite the fact that Republicans controlled the Senate during 3 of 4 congressional terms during the Clinton years.
Bruce Hausknecht, J.D., is the Judicial Analyst for Citizenlink.
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