Press

May 1, 2008, Washington, DC - "Today the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Steven Agee to the Fourth Circuit.  Rather than celebrating the quick pace of his confirmation process, Senate Republicans are manufacturing a crisis in an attempt to score points in an election year.  Despite the rhetoric over a vacancy crisis, the vacancy rate on the circuit courts is less than half of what it was at the end of the Clinton administration.  While Senate Republicans are ratcheting up the rhetoric over a few controversial nominations, the committee continues to perform its advice and consent role, holding hearings and votes on qualified nominees who were chosen in consultation with home state senators from both parties.  By focusing on a few extreme nominees, Senate Republicans have revealed their true goals: pushing for the installation of ultraconservative ideologues on the federal bench and galvanizing their base for the upcoming election."