We won this one guys! Estrada has removed himself from his bid for the judiciary.
Let this be a lesson to the Shrub Administration that you can’t just instruct people to refuse to cooperate with Congress if you want to be an appellate judge.
This is from the September 4, 2003 program.
Here’s an interview with Adam Schiff (D-CA) of the House Judiciary Committee on Fox News.
This is a ‘just a for the record’ kind of posting:
People For the United Way — Filibuster Holds!
Organizations Opposed to the Confirmation of Miguel Estrada
Bush Calls For Ban on Judicial Filibusters
from CNN and the AP.
President Bush, his appeals court nomination of Miguel Estrada mired in party politics, called Tuesday for a ban on judicial filibusters and a mandatory vote on all court nominations he and future presidents send to the Senate.
In a letter read on the Senate floor by Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, Bush called for a permanent rule “to ensure timely up or down votes on judicial nominations both now and in the future, no matter who is president or which party controls the Senate. This is the only way to ensure our judiciary works and that good people remain willing to be nominated to the federal bench.”
Senators in the past have called for similar changes but to no effect.
Republicans have so far failed in their efforts to end the Democratic filibuster of Estrada’s nomination for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia…
Democrats have said Owen and Pickering would face serious opposition from them, including possible filibusters.
The Republicans lost a filibuster vote on Estrada on Thursday, with only four Democrats voting with the GOP majority to give him an immediate confirmation vote. Frist said he would soon try vote on ending the filibuster, and Hatch said he expects such a vote perhaps as early as next week.
Tomorrow’s the day you’ll need to contact your representatives to tell them to vote against Estrada.
Make sure the staffers know you’re a constituent. Then urge your
Senators to:
“Please SUPPORT the filibuster to stop Miguel Estrada.
Please vote AGAINST cloture.”
Please let us know you’re making these important calls, at:
http://www.moveon.org/callmade2.html
…..
A recent New York Times story on the filibuster is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/politics/12ESTR.html
For more information on Estrada, there’s a good fact sheet at:
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=7795
* For more information on filibusters, see our bulletin at:
http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/bulletin11.html
Senators fight over other nominees as Estrada debate drags on
By Jesse Holland for the SF Chronicle.
Senate Republicans forced committee approval of three of President Bush’s judicial nominees Thursday, despite Democrats’ efforts to delay action as they have delayed the high-profile nomination of Miguel Estrada to the federal appellate bench.
Democrats said Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, overrode committee rules to send U.S. Appeals Court nominees Deborah Cook and John Roberts to the Republican-controlled Senate, despite objections that they had the right to continue holding the nominees in committee.
Hatch said he was within his rights under committee rules to force a final vote.
“We’re not going to have filibusters in committee,” said an angry Hatch at the end of a three-hour hearing in which sharp words were exchanged between himself and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
The hearing was heated at times, with Democrats at one point walking out to prevent Hatch from having enough committee members present to vote. “You may bully some but you’re not going to bully me,” Kennedy told Hatch.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) – Judiciary Committee Ranking Member is on CSPAN right now talking about the Estrada nomination.
Not a whole lot has changed. Estrada won’t answer any questions from the Senate Judiciary committee and they are plenty pissed about it.
I’ll grab some of this and put it up.
I also have another installment of my February 16th adventure going up today.
Then I have to cool it for a day or two while I finish up my grad school application before I miss the deadline…
The Shrub was going on and on about the Miguel Estrada nomination during his radio address yesterday. (Which I will upload shortly once I’m convinced it’s not already available online.)
We’ll probably need to call our Democrat congress critters tomorrow to show them support for Filibustering the vote on this guy.
It just isn’t right for him to refuse to answer questions by the Senate Judiciary Committee. I’ve got more video from CSPAN a week ago when they were debating this issue, but my guess is there will be a lot of new debate tomorrow over this.
Remember that Bill Frist agreed that no vote can be taken until 5:30 pm on Monday. That means it could be a late night indeed…
That still gives us all day tomorrow to remind congress how much we care about this issue.
It took me less than a minute to call my senator last week and leave a message thanking her for “doing whatever he/she can to oppose the Miguel Estrada nomination.”
These calls are typically tallied. No more than a sentance or two stating how you feel is required. They’re busy too. The people on the phone are always very nice and glad you called, whatever you have to say.
Let’s get in the habit of letting them know how we feel!
Here are some clips of Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) from
yesterday’s debate over the nomination of Miguel Estrada
to the second highest court in the land.
It was lengthly, but very interesting. I sure learn a lot watching
CSPAN. (Well, a lot compared to what I used to know before about this stuff anyway, which was nothing 🙂
Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) explains a thing
or two about the Estrada situation
(Note: These clips are in no way complete — he spoke for
two or three times as long as these clips):
Highlights with descriptions: Part 1: Baucus recalls how he
recalls Supreme Court Justice O’Connor starting the
practice of not answering certain questions when she
was being considered for the bench — noting that she
had an extensive record from which she could be
assessed. Estrada, in contrast, has refused to answer
any questions whatsoever. (Not just one or two
questions that he doesn’t feel comfortable about.)
Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 1 of 4 (Lo-Res – 17 MB)
Audio – Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 1 of 4 (Lo-Res – 2 MB)
Part 2 – Baucus talks about how important it is to
know what kind of a person that nominee is since
these are lifetime appointments.
Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 2 of 4 (Lo-Res – 17 MB)
Audio – Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 2 of 4 (Lo-Res – 2 MB)
Part 3 – Baucus elaborates about how he feels
responsible to do what is right by the people.
He also brings up the point that the Justice Dept.
probably interviewed Estrada before the Shrub
made his recommendation — and asks “why wasn’t
that information made available to the Senate?”
Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 3 of 4 (Lo-Res – 25 MB)
Audio – Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 3 of 4 (Lo-Res – 3 MB)
Part 4 – Baucus talks about when Roosevelt tried
to pack the Supreme Court when he didn’t like
the decisions it had been making. (He tried to
add Justices to the court.) But the Senate stood
up to him. Now it is time, he said, for the Senate
to stand up against the blind approval of these kind
of mystery nominees.
Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 4 of 4 (Lo-Res – 40 MB)
Audio – Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN Part 4 of 4 (Lo-Res – 4 MB)
Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) Complete Audio:
Audio – Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN – Parts 1-4 (Hi-Res – 10 MB)
Audio – Sen Max Baucus On CSPAN – Parts 1-4 (Lo-Res – 5 MB)
Senator Tim Johnson Explaining how Miguel Estrada refused to answer any questions asked of him by the Senate Judiciary Committee:
Audio Sen. Tim Johnson On CSPAN (MP3 – Hi-Res – 4 MB)
Audio Sen. Tim Johnson On CSPAN (MP3 – Lo-Res – 2 MB)
Sen. Tim Johnson On CSPAN – ALL (Lo-Res – 49 MB)
Sen. Tim Johnson On CSPAN Part 1 of 2 (Lo-Res – 25 MB)
Sen. Tim Johnson On CSPAN Part 2 of 2 (Lo-Res – 24 MB)
Senator Tim Johnson Explaining the dangers of setting a precendent where Judicial nominees would not have to provide any information about their beliefs (effectively rubber stamping presidential nominees):
More Sen. Tim Johnson On CSPAN (Lo-Res – 14 MB)
Audio – More Sen. Tim Johnson On CSPAN (MP3 – Hi-Res – 2 MB)