Judicial logjam breaks after agreement

WASHINGTON -- After a monthslong blockade, Senate Republicans have agreed to let at least 19 of President Barack Obama's non controversial judicial nominees win confirmation in the waning days of the congressional session in exchange for a commitment by Democrats not to seek votes on four others, according to officials familiar with the deal.

Among the four is Goodwin Liu, dean at the University of California law school at Berkeley, who is seen as a potential future Supreme Court pick, whose nomination to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has sparked strong criticism from Republicans.

As part of the arrangement, the Senate has approved 10 judges in the past few days without a single dissenting vote. One of them, Albert Diaz, had been awaiting confirmation to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., since clearing the Judiciary Committee in January.

The deal was worked out between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, with the knowledge of the White House, officials said.

In the talks, Reid also pushed for confirmation for James Cole, whom Obama picked last spring for the No. 2 post in the Justice Department. His nomination to be deputy attorney general is opposed by Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, and its fate is unclear.

Officials described the moves on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss private conversations.

Judicial nominations have become intensely political in recent years as presidents seek approval for nominees who frequently spark opposition from interest groups aligned with the opposing party as well as from senators themselves.

Democrats filibustered several of President George W. Bush's conservative nominees, refusing to allow a vote on some for years. The logjam was broken in the spring of 2005 in a compromise that allowed some to be confirmed while a smaller number were jettisoned.

More recently, Democrats have accused Republicans of delaying confirmation of even non controversial nominees advanced by Obama by refusing to permit them to come to a vote without a time-consuming process than can take three days on the Senate floor.

Before the action this weekend, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said about 30 Obama judicial nominees, including seven to fill appeals court vacancies, were awaiting Senate confirmation.

The Senate has confirmed both of Obama's nominees to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Republicans have attacked Liu's nomination from the first.

At his committee confirmation hearing, Sessions Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., noted Liu's criticism when Samuel Alito was nominated to the Supreme Court by Bush. At the time, Liu said Alito's vision was an America "where police may shoot and kill an unarmed boy ... where federal agents may point guns at ordinary citizens during a raid, even after no sign of resistance ... where the FBI may install a camera where you sleep ... where a black man may be sentenced to death by an all-white jury for killing a white man, absent ... analysis showing discrimination."