President Obama’s three nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appear to be in trouble, and they may need Democrats to employ the “nuclear option” to ever make it to the bench.
Senate Republicans on Oct. 31 blocked the nomination of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner Patricia Millett. Nobody questioned her qualifications to the key appeals court. Her nomination needed 60 votes to overcome a GOP filibuster threat; she got 55. Republicans, arguing the D.C. Circuit does not need any more judges, accused Obama of trying to stack the court. Both of those arguments apply equally to the other two nominees: Georgetown University Law Center professor Cornelia Pillard and U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins, a former Venable partner. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) suggested that the blocking of Millett could create enough pressure to change long-standing Senate rules — via the so-called “nuclear option” — to strip the ability of Republicans to filibuster nominations. “If the Republican caucus finds that despite her stellar legal reputation and commitment to her country that somehow a filibuster is warranted, I believe this body will need to consider anew whether a rules change should be in order,” Leahy said last week.
