Friday, May 9, 2003 | 5:12 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: May 11, 2003
Listening to the hue and cry from the White House, one would believe that the Democrats are mercilessly pummeling President Bush's judicial nominees. The president and Republicans are fuming that the system for confirming presidential nominees is broken and that democracy itself depends on instituting immediate reforms.
The more accurate picture is that over the past two years the Senate has confirmed nearly 70 percent of Bush's nominees to the district and circuit courts. According to USA Today, vacancies on federal court benches are at their lowest level in 13 years.
It's true that Democratic filibustering is holding up the nominations of two judges -- Texas State Supreme Court Judge Priscilla Owen for the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and Washington attorney Michael Estrada for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The Democrats have severe reservations about these candidates and are doing nothing more than invoking their privileges in blocking the nominations. If Bush thinks this is an example of a broken system, he should remember how often Republicans have resorted to the same tactic.
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