Editorial: Time to finally stop confirmation delays

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1999 | 9:45 a.m.

The Republican Senate leadership has delayed votes on many of President Clinton's federal judicial nominees. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., finally agreed last week to hold votes by March 15 for two nominees to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: Californians Richard Paez and Marsha Berzon. Paez's nomination has been pending for four years.

So what got Lott to act? Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., retaliated by placing a hold on the nomination of a good friend of Lott's, who was seeking Senate confirmation to the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Boxer released her hold only after Lott said he would hold a vote on the two Californians' nominations. While this is an improvement, as the Associated Press noted in a story last week, the Senate has approved just 25 of Clinton's 70 judicial nominees during 1999. The GOP-led Senate should start filling the vacancies, which are creating a strain on the federal judiciary.

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