August 11, 2010

WASHINGTON- Last week Senate Republicans invoked a rarely used rule to block the nomination of Judge Edward M. Chen, law professor Goodwin Liu, and several other judicial candidates. Per procedure, the Senate must agree to allow nominations to carry over during a recess lasting more than 30 days. However, Republicans refused to leave Judge Chen's and Professor Liu's nominations in place. President Obama is expected to resubmit their names in September. We are seeing an unprecedented amount of obstructionism affecting all nominees, said Joseph J. Centeno, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Highly qualified nominees such as Judge Chen and Professor Liu are entitled to a full Senate vote in a timely fashion. Both Judge Chen and Professor Liu received unanimous well qualified ratings from the American Bar Association, the highest rating possible. Obstructionism is also disproportionately affecting minority nominees. Five of the six...

Source: Asian American Justice Center