Before the Democratic majority shrinks at the end of the year, senators are preparing for a possible showdown over President Barack Obama’s most controversial judicial nominees.
In an interview, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said he supports Democrats using a week or more of the “lame duck” session in order to confirm nominees such as Goodwin Liu for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Forcing a vote on a single nominee can take days under Senate rules that guarantee a certain amount of debate time. (The lame-duck session began last week and will continue into December. No end date has been set.)
