Elizabeth Warren is barking up the wrong tree - she needs to bark at the Senators she works with

[Tx4obama]

Elizabeth Warren pushes Obama on judicial nominations

Sen. Elizabeth Warren told a group of liberal lawyers last night that they should press the president to speed up the judicial nomination process, and warned that failing to do so would lead to increasing corporate influence over the courts.

“Above all, we must make judicial nominations a priority. It’s time for a new generation of judges, judges whose life experience extends beyond big firms, federal prosecution, and white-collar defense,” she said in a speech before the American Constitution Society.

“We need sustained pressure to get those judges in front of the Senate. Pressure — pressure on our president, pressure on senators, pressure in the press,” she added.

-snip-

http://www.salon.com/2013/06/14/elizabeth_warren_pushes_obama_on_judicial_nominations/

There are currently TONS of Court of Appeals and District Court nominees waiting to have their Senate hearings and some waiting for a Senate Judicial Committee vote.

Nominees that are waiting are listed in two sections here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama

Also, part of the problem is that there are RED STATE Republican Senators that are NOT submitting nominee names to President Obama.


See below...

May 2013

-snip-

A major reason Obama has tapped fewer judges, HuffPost's Jen Bendery recently reported, has to do with Senate tradition, which requires home state senators to put forward a slate of acceptable nominees from which the president chooses. But GOP senators have declined to put forward a slate. In some cases, they have then subsequently complained about the slow pace of nominations.

-snip-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/obama-judicial-nominations_n_3345267.html

And an article from April 2013

Obama's Judicial Nominees Blocked On All Sides By Senate Republicans

WASHINGTON -- It's bad enough that there are 82 vacant federal judge slots around the country, a level so high that many observers have deemed it a crisis situation.

But perhaps even more startling is the fact that of those 82 vacant slots, 61 of them don't even have a nominee.

On its face, the absence of nominees would appear to be a sign that President Barack Obama is slacking. After all, he is responsible for nominating judges, and he did put forward fewer nominees at the end of his first term than his two predecessors. But a closer look at data on judicial nominees, and conversations with people involved in the nomination process, reveals the bigger problem is Republican senators quietly refusing to recommend potential judges in the first place.

The process for moving judicial nominees is simple enough. A president takes the lead on circuit court nominees, while, per longstanding tradition, a senator kickstarts the process for district court nominees, which make up the bulk of the federal court system. Senators make recommendations from their home states, and the president works with them to get at least some of the nominees confirmed -- the idea being that senators, regardless of party, are motivated to advocate for nominees from their states. The White House may look at other nominees on its own, but typically won't move forward without input from the corresponding senators. Once a nominee is submitted to the Senate, he or she receives a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. If approved, the nomination heads to the Senate floor for a full vote.

-snip-

Full article here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/obama-judicial-nominees_n_3156050.html

[msongs]

1. he should put forth names if it is only tradition, not law, that senators submit nominees nt

[Tx4obama]

2. It would not be that simple.

1) There are also commissions of state lawyers involved in the process.

And...

2) If Obama were to nominate someone without that person's two senators (from the state he's from) approval then ALL of the GOP senators would object and block cloture and there would be no floor vote.
We do NOT have 60 Dems in the U.S. Senate so we'd still need a few Republicans to vote with the Dems in order to get the nominee confirmed.

If we had a super-majority in the Senate then none of this would be a problem.

[ReRe]

3. So, the problem is PO, and not the filibustering...

RECed

... by the Republican Senators? Or The Republican Senators placing holds on them? Well, I blame whoever is holding the process up, be it PO, or Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell (God) himself. I darn sure don't blame Senator Warren, that's for sure. Is this really a "anti-Elizabeth Warren" meme in disguise, here?

[Tx4obama]

4. No the problem is NOT President Obama. The problem is the Republican Senators.

I did NOT say that Warren was to blame for obstructing the nominees.

If you read what I said in the OP I was referring to her trying to put the blame on Obama and that is not where the blame lies.

The blame lies with the REPUBLICAN SENATORS - the republican senators that are 'not bringing forth names', the Republican senators that obstruct the process by not turning in their blue slips, the Republican senators that obstruct cloture, etc.

Instead of blaming Obama - Warren needs to focus on blaming THE SENATORS that she works with.

[ReRe]

6. I was thinking outloud...

... in reaction to the articles. That's what the articles sounded like, to me. I wasn't presuming anything on your part. I too think it's the Republican Senators, particularly Mitch McConnell or even Reid, because he won't put his foot down and be the real leader of the Senate. What was the "tradition" thing all about?

[Bluenorthwest]

8. What Senator Warren said with her own mouth, not yours:

“We need sustained pressure to get those judges in front of the Senate. Pressure — pressure on our president, pressure on senators, pressure in the press,”

So from that you derive the need to type THE SENATORS in caps and claim she's 'blaming Obama'? That does not strike me as rational, to be blunt.

“We need sustained pressure to get those judges in front of the Senate. Pressure — pressure on our president, pressure on senators, pressure in the press."

[Tx4obama]

5. Btw...

President Obama has been pressuring the Senators to get his nominees confirmed for over a couple of years.

Obama has spoken out on the issue of the Republicans obstruction of the judicial nominees many times - in interviews, in the White Rose Garden at least twice, even in his State of the Union Address.

[ReRe]

7. Yes, I've heard POs complaints about the obstructivism in the Senate. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

9. And also pages of praise for his bipartisan partners who have great ideas and

to whom we will reach out no matter how they shit on us. 'I'm not a sap' he says as he reaches out to the Republicans again just as they place their whoopi cushions and palm buzzers.

[ReRe]

12. Look.

We have the President we have. And there isn't a GD thing we can do about it. Do I agree with everything he does? No. Does he do some things right? Yes.

I learned when I was a wee child that I couldn't always get what I wanted at the moment I wanted it. No amount of screaming, kicking, crying could change it. Now, I'm over-the-hill, so to speak, and I STILL can't get everything I want.

Chill, will you? We're on the same side. Life is too short and I don't want to spend the rest of what I have left arguing, unless it's with a GD Republican that just got in my face. I rest. Peace.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

14. Don't you understand? It's always President Obama's fault FIRST!! No one else. It's HIS fault!

And no matter what he says or does, it'll never be good enough.

[ReRe]

20. Please settle down...

I hope you are NOT playing me for a sucker.

Do you know that virtually every person you meet on DU (minus the trolls) voted for PO? Twice?
And worked themselves to death GOTVing: typing, licking envelopes, working the phones, knocking on doors? This isn't the end of the world!
Sorry I couldn't answer you right away...had a huge dinner out with family who had driven in from parts afar. Get some rest. Peace.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

22. I was being sarcastic. Forgot the "sarcasm" smilie.

[ReRe]

23. Well, paste the sucker sticker to my forehead. ;-)

You really need to use the sarcasm button or just type it in, as we have lots of new members (not to mention kind-hearted old suckers like me.) Later...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

24. Done!!

[Arkana]

30. No, it's that he thinks Warren is placing the blame on the wrong person.

Obama's nominated a boatload of people--the Republicans have just blocked all of them because of bullshit reasons.

[Tx4obama]

31. ReRe was only thinking about loud about what the 'articles' said. See #6

All's well.

[ReRe]

33. I know...

I was just trying to whittle down the message of the OPer, bring the real message out of the bushes, so-to-speak. What I got out of the whole exchange was that if the OPer and I had to choose between the two, he would defend PO and I would defend Sen Warren.

[Harmony Blue]

10. Warren knows what she is doing

President Obama on the other hand is dragging his feet and not being aggressive enough. He has secured a second term but there is no sense of urgency on his part.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. President Obama: The Great & Powerful!

It has been weird watching so many otherwise thoughtful and intelligent people blaming and piling on President Obama for things not happening- as though he is virtually a dictator- ever since he was elected. I guess it's easier and/or more convenient to blame President Obama for the SEVERE and, I would say, unprecedented intransigence and obstructionism of the Republicans in Congress? Or blame him for not simply signing an Executive Order that only lasts as long as his term in office instead of pushing for solid and long-term change in Congress. The news media, instead of calling out the Republicans for not being willing to work with President Obama, stupidly always makes the story about why isn't President Obama calling Republicans and having them over for dinner, golf, cocktails, beer, etc. Unfortunately, even people like Senator Warren seems to have gotten sucked into this mentality as well. She is in the Senate. She has some power to push this issue.

[Cha]

13. I know.. it's freaking mind boggling, PLD. It's alway PBO who's "dragging his feet"..

lilke they know anything about anything that's going on.. the repbublicon senators are innocent little things in the woods.

[Harmony Blue]

15. Corporate dems live in a bubble

and yes President Obama is dragging his feet. You can't pin all the blame on Republican obstructionism...well you could but that would be the height of intellectual laziness.

President Obama has options to counter Republican obstructionism but he doesn't have the conviction to follow through. It was clear in his first term, and it seems like more of the same for his second term.

[Cha]

16. And, Yes, you obviously don't know what the hell is going on.

[Harmony Blue]

17. We watched his four years of his term

and thus far on his second the urgency to do anything isn't there. President Obama holds his fate in his own hands and to suggest that he can't do anything to counteract Republican obstructionism is to imply that Obama doesn't have the strength to do so. I believe he does, but he needs to follow through or else his second term will overshadow his first term negatively instead of positively.

[Tx4obama]

19. I'm all ears. Please lay out your plan of how President Obama can force the Republican senators...

... to bring forth nominee names from the red states, how he can force the republican senators to turn in their blue slips, and how he can force the republican senators to vote 'yes' for cloture on the nominees so that there can be an up and down confirmation vote on the Senate floor.

I'm listening...

[Harmony Blue]

25. First of all

Obama is the President of the United States. He is operating from a position of strength and he can negotiate and play hardball for nominees. He chooses not to do so, and lets the Republicans dominate instead.

All I am ears to hear how Obama will be different with his second term from his first. That to me seems unlikely.

[Tx4obama]

26. So, you bascially have no detailed plan of what can be done. Zero, ziltch, nada.

HOW can President Obama...

... force the republican senators to bring forth nominee names from the red states?

... force the republican senators to turn in their blue slips?

... force the republican senators to vote 'yes' for cloture ?

There is NO way President Obama can force them to do any of those things.

Hell even the republican leadership can't get their members to do what they want them to do most of the time.

And yet folks still try to put the blame on Our President.

Sickening to say the least.

[treestar]

28. Their answer is always "But the President!"

He's President, he ought to be able to get whatever he wants! That's basically been the attitude from the start. They sneer at the idea that Congress can do anything other than what the President wants. If he were just a tough guy like LBJ, who made Congress do what he wants and not what they want.

Then you get the indication Elizabeth Warren is like that too and will make Congress do her bidding! I'm disappointed that she is piling on Obama for it when she is in the Senate.

[treestar]

29. What options?

[Tarheel_Dem]

27. Like many "progressives", Warren hasn't accepted that he really isn't "Barack,

The Magic Negro". I can't remember a time when so much responsbility was placed on one branch of government. She doesn't really have to make good on her campaign promises, as long as she can scapegoat the White House. It's a sucky tactic, but probably effective.

Bernie Sanders often does the same thing. They have absolutely no influence, nor the numbers, in the chamber they've been elected to, so they make their shortcomings about the President. As long as no one calls them on it, they're likely to get away with it.

[blkmusclmachine]

18. Professor Warren lectures. What's coming out of all of it???

Deeds, not words.

[Jamaal510]

21. Usually I'd expect to hear this from people on the sidelines,

but I wouldn't have expected someone who actually works IN Congress to not be on the up-and-up regarding the checks-and-balances system. Surely Elizabeth Warren, of all people, would know all about the Senate Republicans obstructing and hamstringing this administration.

[bigwillq]

32. We need more people like Elizabeth Warren.

Give them hell, Elizabeth!