The Washington Monthly

November 18, 2009

CONSISTENCY ISN'T THEIR STRONG POINT.... When President Obama nominated Judge Hamilton for the 7th Circuit seven months ago, Obama did so specifically because Hamilton has a record of moderation. The nomination was intended to send a signal that the process of filling judicial vacancies need not be contentious. "We would like to put the history of the confirmation wars behind us," one White House aide said back in March.

That didn't happen. The very same Republican senators who insisted that judicial filibusters are an affront to our constitutional traditions yesterday launched a filibuster of the Hamilton nomination. Dana Milbank's piece on this is worth reading.

In their quest to thwart President Obama, Republicans do not fear the hobgoblin of consistency.
For much of this decade, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, now the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, led the fight against Democratic filibusters of George W. Bush's judicial nominees. He decried Democrats' "unprecedented, obstructive tactics." To have Bush nominees "opposed on a partisan filibuster, it is really wrong," he added. He demanded they get "an up-and-down vote." He praised Republican leaders because they "opposed judicial filibusters" and have "been consistent on this issue even when it was not to their political benefit to do so."

So now a Democratic president is in the White House and he has nominated his first appellate judicial nominee, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton. And what did Sessions do? He went to the floor and led a filibuster.

Sessions rationalized his inconsistency by saying he doesn't "agree" with Judge Hamilton's "judicial philosophy."

He had plenty of company. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in 2005 that judicial filibusters are a distortion of the Senate's "advise and consent" responsibilities, but that didn't stop him from joining Sessions' filibuster yesterday. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said in 2005 that judicial filibusters have no place in the Senate, but he voted with Sessions, too. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in 2005 that judicial filibusters are likely to "destroy" the federal judiciary "over time," but he also joined his GOP colleagues.

In the end, 70 senators, including 10 Republicans, voted for cloture. Just 29 supported the filibuster, and most of them demanded the exact opposite when Bush was in office.

Now, I suspect the charge from the right will be that the hypocrisy cuts both ways -- Republicans are turning their backs on their collective Bush-era outrage, but Senate Dems, the argument goes, are also contradicting their previous positions.

Milbank, to his credit, notes the qualitative difference: "Democrats were not in the same league of hypocrisy, because they weren't opposing Republicans' right to filibuster."

Right. For the GOP, filibusters of Bush's nominees were literally unconstitutional, and an affront to our system of government. Now, these same Republicans think the same tactic is fine. The two haven't switched sides -- Dems haven't said judicial filibusters tear at the fabric of democracy, they simply said it's a dumb idea.

—Steve Benen 9:15 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (17)

Comments

Jefferson Sessions needs to go home and sit on his front porch for a while! His world is filled with resistance, fear and ingraciousness. So . . .

He needs to look at the changed neighborhood in which he now lives! -Kevo

Posted by: kevo on November 18, 2009 at 9:25 AM | PERMALINK

Has Milbank been watching The Daily Show?

Posted by: Gregory on November 18, 2009 at 9:27 AM | PERMALINK

Republicans are hypocrites? Unpossible.

Posted by: estamm on November 18, 2009 at 9:35 AM | PERMALINK

"Democrats were not in the same league of hypocrisy, because they weren't opposing Republicans' right to filibuster."

No, when it comes to raping the virtues of truth, logic, equality, and justice wilstwhile burying irony in its grave with a bulldozer, Republicans are surely in a league of their own.

Posted by: hopeful on November 18, 2009 at 9:36 AM | PERMALINK

Tarnished and fatigued

Ah the most illustrious body on earth...
Watching this great institution tackle global warming will surely be a treat.

Posted by: koreyel on November 18, 2009 at 10:03 AM | PERMALINK

Well, these rightwingnuts don't see themselves as being inconsistent. The difference, they would explain (if they allowed themselves enough self-reflection to formulate an explanation--self reflection is for wimpy liberals) is that Democrats aren't legitimate presidents.

Posted by: rea on November 18, 2009 at 10:12 AM | PERMALINK

In addition to the qualitative difference, there's also a quantitative difference. When Dems used the filibuster, it was an exception. With Republicans, it's the rule.

Posted by: Chris on November 18, 2009 at 10:23 AM | PERMALINK

I really wish Obama would make the federal judiciary more of a priority, he has a lot more openings to fill which could really change the direction of some circuit courts.
Those who say this isn't a big deal don't know what they're talking about.

Posted by: Allan Snyder on November 18, 2009 at 10:31 AM | PERMALINK

It's also important to remember that Lindsey Graham and John McCain, who voted 'no', were two of the seven Republican members of "the Gang of 14" -- a group of "moderates" from the last Congress who basically agreed oppose filibusters of any Bush judicial nominee who didn't wear his Klan hood to his confirmation hearing.

The next time McCain is on one of the Sunday morning news shows, someone should ask him about that.

Posted by: SteveT on November 18, 2009 at 10:32 AM | PERMALINK

Allan Snyder: "Those who say this isn't a big deal don't know what they're talking about."

That's true, as far as it goes. The problem is, at this point almost everything on Obama's plate is a rather big deal. If you would have Obama start paying more attention to one thing, that means less attention for something else. And it really wouldn't help to start an argument over what should be the highest priority; that's pretty subjective.

Anyway, I'd be willing to bet that Obama has put a lot more work into this judiciary issue than has been made public.

Posted by: Shade Tail on November 18, 2009 at 10:38 AM | PERMALINK

Don't forget the most prominent member of all of the "Gang of 14" -- the unofficial "Gang Leader," the one who donned his leather jacket and set out to put this group together to the strains of "Leader of the Pack," that oh-so-moderate champion of consensus, Sen. John McCain.

He voted to maintain this filibuster.

I have yet to see one media report pointing this out.

Posted by: twc on November 18, 2009 at 10:46 AM | PERMALINK

Republicans are very consistent. They consistently lie. That's about all there is to them.

Posted by: Roddy McCorley on November 18, 2009 at 12:38 PM | PERMALINK

Inconsistent and incontinent (at both ends). As usual.

Posted by: exlibra on November 18, 2009 at 12:58 PM | PERMALINK

Good thing the GOP leadership didn't get their way and institute the nuclear option. If they had, then they wouldn't be able to obstruct Obama. They might actually be forced to do something constructive. Gasp, shudder.

Posted by: jvwalt on November 18, 2009 at 1:17 PM | PERMALINK

You know, most Americans have NO IDEA that this is going on, even those who are fairly knowledgeable (was speaking to one such person yesterday). It needs to be said over and over again, every time the Dems are on the news, or interviewed for print: the Rs are obstructing progress in this country!

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