Reid to try to force vote on judges

WASHINGTON -- Raising the partisan temperature in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid this week used a parliamentary tactic designed to end a Republican filibuster against 17 of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees, including Reno attorney Miranda Du.

Reid, whose move infuriated Republicans, has complained for months about the slow pace of confirmations of the president's picks for the federal bench.

Republicans have argued the pace is consistent with Democratic approvals of former President George W. Bush's court nominees. They also have said Obama has been slow to nominate people to fill judicial vacancies.

On Monday, Reid filed a petition for cloture, which would limit debate and force a vote on the nominees.

However, he would need a super majority of 60 votes in the 100-member Senate, and Democrats only have 51, plus two independents who caucus with the party. The procedure would require 17 separate votes -- one for each judge -- to limit debate and force an up-or-down vote. The votes are likely by today .

Reid said he ran out of patience because "the endless obstructionism" has left many federal courts "strained at the breaking point under a backlog so intense an emergency has been declared" by the judiciary.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said judicial confirmations are not stalled and called Reid's maneuver "a ploy by the majority leader to build political rhetoric for the president. "

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said his party has been angry since Obama on Jan. 4 made four appointments without Senate approval, justifying the move on grounds the Senate was in recess. Republicans argued the Senate never recessed, and the appointments were unconstitutional.

Liberal groups and Democratic senators have been pushing Reid to try to force votes on the nominees in an effort to get Obama's court choices on the bench with lifetime jobs.

Republicans and Democrats have used different numbers and time frames to argue whether the pace of confirmations is on par with approvals of Bush's nominees. Twenty-two nominations are pending, including 16 that cleared the Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support. Eleven of the 22 are in districts considered judicial emergencies because of backlogs, such as Nevada.

Reid, if successful, would force individual votes for the 17 District Court nominees before the Senate but not the five appellate court nominees. Appellate choices receive more detailed scrutiny because appeals courts are often the last word in deciding major issues -- or are the last stop before a case reaches the Supreme Court.

Du, who was recommended for a Nevada judgeship by Reid, was approved by the Judiciary Committee in November. The panel approved her on a party line 10-8 vote over the objections of Republicans who challenged her credentials and raised questions about her defense of the Truckee Meadows Water Authority in an employment discrimination case. Du was sanctioned in 2008 after she was found to have mishandled a case.

She received a mixed rating from the American Bar Association's 15-member Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. A "substantial majority" rated her "qualified," while a minority rated her "not qualified."

Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault and Review-Journal writer Carri Geer Thevenot contributed to this report.