NEWS FLASH

Former GOP Judge Slams Senate GOP Obstruction Of Judicial Nominees | In a piece for the National Constitution Center, former federal appeals Judge Timothy Lewis — who was appointed to the bench by the first President Bush — slammed the Senate GOP’s record of placing partisan politics ahead of ensuring that we have a functioning judiciary:

The Obama administration was slow out of the gate on this one – nominations trickled forth in the early days of the administration when the President’s team should have been well-prepared with the names of nominees. But a considerable amount of the fault for this also has to be laid at the feet of Republicans who have made it a badge of honor to frustrate this President, himself a man of the law, from shaping the federal courts he inherited from George W. Bush. If you doubt this conclusion, reflect for a moment on the Senate minority leader’s comment shortly before the 2010 mid-term election when he said that the top – top — political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office. Really, Senator? So where on the priority list do we put conducting the Senate’s constitutional business?