Republicans are sabotaging our government at home and overseas...

Remember when the Republicans were screaming about this during the Bush debacle?

Senate Republicans Are Blocking Obama's Judges at a Nearly Unprecedented Rate

The Senate has confirmed just nine judges nominated by President Obama so far this year. It's the slowest pace of confirmations in more than half a century, on track to match the 11 confirmations in 1960.

"It's still like pulling teeth to move nominations," says a senior Democratic Senate aide. "They're being held by a number of different Republican senators for every reason under the sun. None of which have anything to do with the actual qualifications of the nominees."

With Republicans in charge of both branches of Congress, odds are slim that Obama will sign major domestic legislation during the last two years of his presidency. Even keeping the government's lights on and selecting a new House speaker have required protracted fights in this dysfunctional Congress. But judges are still one area where a hamstrung president can leave a mark, as district and circuit court judges who win confirmation receive a lifetime appointment.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/senate-republicans-block-obama-judge-nominations

America’s Empty Embassies
By WALTER F. MONDALE DEC. 29, 2015
...American diplomats have made remarkable progress across a number of fronts, from
climate change to checking Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Such success depends on making common cause with our allies, an effort
led by America’s ambassadors. And yet, thanks to Senate politics, dozens of
ambassadorial nominations have been delayed unnecessarily. At one point in
2014, nearly a quarter of the world’s countries lacked an American
ambassador, and even today, despite some efforts to approve candidates, a
dozen nominations have not received congressional action — including
nominees to represent the United States in strategically vital countries like
Mexico, Norway and Sweden.

Some of these are still early in the nomination process, but several have
received overwhelming bipartisan support in committee, only to see their
candidacy halted on the Senate floor.

-more-

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/opinion/americas-empty-embassies.html?emc=edit_th_20151229&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=70251688&_r=0