‘Sure Votes For A Partisan Agenda’

After Years Of Hurling Weak Accusations At The Bush Administration, Democrats Look To ‘Fill Up The D.C. Circuit’ With ‘Sure Votes For A Partisan Agenda’

Dems: Courts Are Best Hope For Advancing Obama’s Agenda

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “…we are remaking the courts.” (President Obama, Remarks To DSCC Event, 11/6/13)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “And our strategy will be to nominate four more people for each of those vacancies … we will fill up the D.C. Circuit, one way or another.” (Sen. Schumer, Remarks, 3/13)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): ‘Switch the majority’“‘People don’t focus much on the D.C. Circuit. It is, some say, more important than even the Supreme Court… We need at least one more. There’s three vacancies, we need at least one more and that will switch the majority.’” (“Reid Pushes To Flip Balance Of D.C. Circuit Court, Hints At Another Filibuster Battle,” Roll Call, 8/9/13)

DOUG KENDALL, Liberal Activist: “With legislative priorities gridlocked in Congress, the president’s best hope for advancing his agenda is through executive action, and that runs through the D.C. Circuit.” (“Obama Seeks To Shift Conservative Tilt Of Key Court,” Washington Post, 4/2/13)

NAN ARON, Liberal Activist: “‘The court is critically important — the majority has made decisions that have frustrated the president’s agenda,’ said Nan Aron, a liberal activist who has called for Mr. Obama to be more aggressive in nominating judges. ‘Our view is that balance must be restored on that court, and the empty seats must be filled.’” (“Obama Plans 3 Nominations For Key Court,” The New York Times, 5/27/13)

“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.” (“Obama Seeks To Shift Conservative Tilt Of Key Court,” Washington Post, 4/2/13)

Dems Often Accused Bush Of Court Packing

SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-VT): “…independence is at grave risk when a President seeks to pack the courts with activists from either side of the political spectrum. We need fair judges, not sure votes for a partisan agenda.” (Sen. Leahy, Congressional Record, S.7808, 6/30/05)

• LEAHY: “…insistence that this President be given carte blanche in his efforts to pack the federal courts and that the Senate become a rubber stamp and give up its distinctive protection of minority rights is shortsighted at best.” (Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 3/3/05)

Dems Called Estrada Nomination Court Packing

SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-VT): “I note that what has impeded a Senate vote on the Estrada nomination has been the political game being played by the White House with this nomination. It is part of an effort to pack the Federal courts. (Sen. Leahy, Congressional Record, S.3439, 3/11/03)

• LEAHY: “When a President is nominating individuals to tip the balance, stack the deck, or to pack the courts with ideologues, the Senate would be abdicating its responsibilities to ignore the very criteria that led to selection of such a nominee.”  (Sen. Leahy, Congressional Record, S.2797, 2/26/03)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV):“…the fight over Estrada's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is not simply about him. It is about a concerted effort to pack our courts with representatives of a single point of view.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.2566, 2/24/03)

Dems Called Alito Nomination Court Packing

SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-VT): No President should be allowed to pack the courts, but especially the Supreme Court, with nominees selected to enshrine Presidential claims of Government power.” (Sen. Leahy, Congressional Record, S.344, 1/31/06)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “…some may exalt at the packing of the Court with yet another reliable, extreme voice in the mold of Scalia and Thomas...” (Sen. Schumer, Congressional Record, S.335, 1/31/06)

Dems Complained About Using the Nuclear Option for Court Packing

SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-VT): “The American people deserve better than what we have seen with the destruction of rule after rule by a majority willing to sacrifice the role of the Senate as a check and balance in order to aid a President determined to pack the Federal courts. It is the courts themselves that serve as the check on the political branches.”(Sen. Leahy, Congressional Record, S.5387, 5/18/05)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “…the so-called nuclear option… would throw away the Constitution of the United States so the Federal courts could be packed.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.8911, 9/5/06)

• REID:“We stand united against an outrageous abuse of power that would pack the courts…” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.5198, 5/16/05)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): “…willing to break the rules of the Senate to change the rules of the Senate so that the far right can pack the Federal courts with judges more of their liking…” (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.5288, 5/17/05)

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): “We had an election last year, and it is true, Republicans ended up with a majority in this body. But that does not mean half the country lost its voice. That does not mean tens of millions of Americans will have no say in our democracy. That does not mean Republicans have carte blanche to pack the courts and to ignore the rights of the minority.” (Sen. Murray, Congressional Record, S.3510, 4/13/05)

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