While America Focuses on HHS Secretary Testimony Before House Comm., Senate Dems Act To ‘Fill Up’ DC Circuit Court With Liberals
Today in Washington - October 30, 2013
The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and began consideration of the nomination of Alan Estevez to be Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.
At 10:30, the Senate voted 91-8 to invoke cloture on the Estevez nomination. At noon, the Senate confirmed the Estevez nomination by voice vote and then voted 81-18 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Katherine Archuleta to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management. The Senate is now considering the Archuleta nomination and more votes are possible today.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has filed cloture (moved to cut off debate) on other controversial nominations, including Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Patricia Millett to be a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
Yesterday, Senate Democrats voted to kill a resolution of disapproval (S.J. Res. 26) of the debt limit increase. The Senate then voted 62-37 to invoke cloture on the controversial nomination of former union lawyer Richard Griffin to be general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate then voted 55-44 to confirm his nomination.
The House reconvened at 10 AM today. Today the House will complete action on: H.R. 992 — "To amend provisions in section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act relating to Federal assistance for swaps entities."
H.J. Res. 99 — "Relating to the disapproval of the President's exercise of authority to suspend the debt limit, as submitted under section 1002(b) of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 on October 17, 2013."
Yesterday the house passed the following bills:
H.R. 2640 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to adjust the Crooked River boundary, to provide water certainty for the City of Prineville, Oregon, and for other purposes."
H.R. 623 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for the conveyance of certain property located in Anchorage, Alaska, from the United States to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium."
H.R. 330 (Voice Vote) — "To designate a Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California."
H.R. 2337 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for the conveyance of the Forest Service Lake Hill Administrative Site in Summit County, Colorado."
H.R. 2374 (254-166) — "To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide protections for retail customers, and for other purposes."
Today HHS Sec. Sebelius is testifying before the House Energy & Commerce Committee on the problem for with the Obamacare website. Seconds after Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the House Energy & Commerce Committee the ObamaCare “website has never crashed.”
This week, Senate Democrats have returned to their attempt to pack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals with Democrat-appointed liberal judges.
Politico notes, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushed back against Republican allegations that President Barack Obama is attempting to ideologically stack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, calling the charge ‘ridiculous.’ Reid vowed Wednesday to push ahead on the nomination of Patricia Millett to the court this week . . . . On Tuesday, Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) reiterated that the Senate GOP believes that the three vacancies on the eleven-seat court are unnecessary due to a low workload. . . . Senate Judiciary ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is pushing a bill that would eliminate three seats on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and reallocate two of them to other circuit courts. . . . On Tuesday, Grassley appeared before the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing titled ‘Are More Judges Always the Answer?’ The Iowa Republican said a judge currently serving on the court wrote to him to tell him the answer is no. ‘That is a current judge on the court saying, “If any more judges were added now, there wouldn’t be enough work to go around.” Who is in a better position to know the workload than the judges themselves?’ Grassley said Tuesday. ‘Why would the president make such an aggressive push to confirm judges that aren’t needed?’”
In an op-ed for Fox News last week, Senate Republican Whip and Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn explained, “Republicans should remain united in blocking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s attempt to pack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is America’s second-most-influential judicial body. Senator Reid has made no secret of his intent: Over the summer, he told Nevada Public Radio that Democrats were hoping to ‘switch the majority’ on the D.C. Circuit to make it a rubberstamp for big-government liberalism. Republicans have objected to this power grab, and we should continue to do so. Based on its caseload, the D.C. Circuit simply does not need more judges at the present time. Meanwhile, there are plenty of appellate courts that are overburdened and do need more judges. Our priority should be to fill those vacancies, not to let Harry Reid stack a single court.”
As Sen. Cornyn noted, liberals have made no secret of their desire to pack the court for ideological ends. Reid said in his August radio appearance, “People don’t focus much on the D.C. Circuit. It is, some say, more important than even the Supreme Court. . . . [W]e’re focusing very intently on the D.C. Circuit. We need at least one more. There’s three vacancies, we need at least one more and that will switch the majority.” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a key Democrat leader and frequent point man on judicial nominees said in March, “[W]e will fill up the D.C. Circuit, one way or another.” Nan Aron, a liberal judicial activist who founded the left-wing Alliance for Justice, and supported Democrats’ filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees, told The New York Times in May, “The [DC Circuit] court is critically important — the majority has made decisions that have frustrated the president's agenda. . . . Our view is that balance must be restored on that court, and the empty seats must be filled.” And The Washington Post acknowledged, “Giving liberals a greater say on the D.C. Circuit is important for Obama as he looks for ways to circumvent the Republican-led House and a polarized Senate on a number of policy fronts through executive order and other administrative procedures.”
As Sen. Cornyn said in a speech on the Senate floor yesterday, “[T]his isn't about the efficient administration of impartial justice. This is about stacking the court by changing the majority. That was a quote from the majority leader of the Senate. So there is no mystery about what is going on here. The majority leader and his allies are attempting to pack the court with judges who will rubberstamp their big-government agenda. . . . [T]his court is currently split right down the middle. Four of the active judges were appointed by a Republican President and four were appointed by a Democratic President. Yet it is clear that the DC Circuit Court is in the crosshairs of the majority leader and his Democratic allies, including the President, because they want to tilt the court in their direction--a more liberal, bigger government direction, one that is more deferential to administrative agencies . . . .”
Tags: House, hearings, Obamacare website, HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, Energy & Commerce Committee, ObamaCare, Senate democrats, packing, DC, District, Court To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and began consideration of the nomination of Alan Estevez to be Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.
At 10:30, the Senate voted 91-8 to invoke cloture on the Estevez nomination. At noon, the Senate confirmed the Estevez nomination by voice vote and then voted 81-18 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Katherine Archuleta to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management. The Senate is now considering the Archuleta nomination and more votes are possible today.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has filed cloture (moved to cut off debate) on other controversial nominations, including Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Patricia Millett to be a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
Yesterday, Senate Democrats voted to kill a resolution of disapproval (S.J. Res. 26) of the debt limit increase. The Senate then voted 62-37 to invoke cloture on the controversial nomination of former union lawyer Richard Griffin to be general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate then voted 55-44 to confirm his nomination.
The House reconvened at 10 AM today. Today the House will complete action on: H.R. 992 — "To amend provisions in section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act relating to Federal assistance for swaps entities."
H.J. Res. 99 — "Relating to the disapproval of the President's exercise of authority to suspend the debt limit, as submitted under section 1002(b) of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 on October 17, 2013."
Yesterday the house passed the following bills:
H.R. 2640 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to adjust the Crooked River boundary, to provide water certainty for the City of Prineville, Oregon, and for other purposes."
H.R. 623 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for the conveyance of certain property located in Anchorage, Alaska, from the United States to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium."
H.R. 330 (Voice Vote) — "To designate a Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California."
H.R. 2337 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for the conveyance of the Forest Service Lake Hill Administrative Site in Summit County, Colorado."
H.R. 2374 (254-166) — "To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide protections for retail customers, and for other purposes."
Today HHS Sec. Sebelius is testifying before the House Energy & Commerce Committee on the problem for with the Obamacare website. Seconds after Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the House Energy & Commerce Committee the ObamaCare “website has never crashed.”
This week, Senate Democrats have returned to their attempt to pack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals with Democrat-appointed liberal judges.
Politico notes, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushed back against Republican allegations that President Barack Obama is attempting to ideologically stack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, calling the charge ‘ridiculous.’ Reid vowed Wednesday to push ahead on the nomination of Patricia Millett to the court this week . . . . On Tuesday, Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) reiterated that the Senate GOP believes that the three vacancies on the eleven-seat court are unnecessary due to a low workload. . . . Senate Judiciary ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is pushing a bill that would eliminate three seats on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and reallocate two of them to other circuit courts. . . . On Tuesday, Grassley appeared before the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing titled ‘Are More Judges Always the Answer?’ The Iowa Republican said a judge currently serving on the court wrote to him to tell him the answer is no. ‘That is a current judge on the court saying, “If any more judges were added now, there wouldn’t be enough work to go around.” Who is in a better position to know the workload than the judges themselves?’ Grassley said Tuesday. ‘Why would the president make such an aggressive push to confirm judges that aren’t needed?’”
In an op-ed for Fox News last week, Senate Republican Whip and Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn explained, “Republicans should remain united in blocking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s attempt to pack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is America’s second-most-influential judicial body. Senator Reid has made no secret of his intent: Over the summer, he told Nevada Public Radio that Democrats were hoping to ‘switch the majority’ on the D.C. Circuit to make it a rubberstamp for big-government liberalism. Republicans have objected to this power grab, and we should continue to do so. Based on its caseload, the D.C. Circuit simply does not need more judges at the present time. Meanwhile, there are plenty of appellate courts that are overburdened and do need more judges. Our priority should be to fill those vacancies, not to let Harry Reid stack a single court.”
As Sen. Cornyn noted, liberals have made no secret of their desire to pack the court for ideological ends. Reid said in his August radio appearance, “People don’t focus much on the D.C. Circuit. It is, some say, more important than even the Supreme Court. . . . [W]e’re focusing very intently on the D.C. Circuit. We need at least one more. There’s three vacancies, we need at least one more and that will switch the majority.” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a key Democrat leader and frequent point man on judicial nominees said in March, “[W]e will fill up the D.C. Circuit, one way or another.” Nan Aron, a liberal judicial activist who founded the left-wing Alliance for Justice, and supported Democrats’ filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees, told The New York Times in May, “The [DC Circuit] court is critically important — the majority has made decisions that have frustrated the president's agenda. . . . Our view is that balance must be restored on that court, and the empty seats must be filled.” And The Washington Post acknowledged, “Giving liberals a greater say on the D.C. Circuit is important for Obama as he looks for ways to circumvent the Republican-led House and a polarized Senate on a number of policy fronts through executive order and other administrative procedures.”
As Sen. Cornyn said in a speech on the Senate floor yesterday, “[T]his isn't about the efficient administration of impartial justice. This is about stacking the court by changing the majority. That was a quote from the majority leader of the Senate. So there is no mystery about what is going on here. The majority leader and his allies are attempting to pack the court with judges who will rubberstamp their big-government agenda. . . . [T]his court is currently split right down the middle. Four of the active judges were appointed by a Republican President and four were appointed by a Democratic President. Yet it is clear that the DC Circuit Court is in the crosshairs of the majority leader and his Democratic allies, including the President, because they want to tilt the court in their direction--a more liberal, bigger government direction, one that is more deferential to administrative agencies . . . .”
Tags: House, hearings, Obamacare website, HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, Energy & Commerce Committee, ObamaCare, Senate democrats, packing, DC, District, Court To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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