Wednesday, April 03, 2019

Senate goes nuclear over Roy Altman

There's a lot of political back and forth over Trump's recent judicial nominees.  Miami is always ground zero, and it was here too as Altman was the first judicial selection to test the nuclear option today.  And boom, the Senate did go nuclear, and the bottom line is that the final vote for Altman will be tomorrow (Thursday) at 11:45. He will very likely be our newest district judge.

Here's Roll Call explaining a little more about the process.  And here are some tweets by the Senate Cloakroom with what happened today:

  • Votes Scheduled: At 11:45am TMRW the Senate will proceed to 2 votes: 1.Confirmation of Cal. #32 Altman to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of FL
  • Invoked, 66-33: Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #32 Roy Altman to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida 
Interestingly, because Altman will be confirmed first, he will have seniority over Ruiz and Smith.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's about damn time.

Anonymous said...

Roy Altman is a gentlemen and a scholar.

Anonymous said...

As a liberal Democrat who hates basically everything Trump has done, I really don't understand the level of obstruction over non-controversial nominees. Roy was nominated almost a year ago and he came out of committee nine months ago with bipartisan support for his nomination.
There is no reason it should have taken so long to fill this seat. If the death of the filibuster simply means that well-qualified nominees with bipartisan support are confirmed in less than a year, then that is fine with me.

Anonymous said...

Remember when the Republicans flat out refused to consider any of Obama's nominees to the DC Court of Appeals? That was obstruction.

Remember when they would not proceed with Garland's nomination? That was obstruction.

There were 68 individual nominees blocked prior to Obama taking office (in the history of the US) and 79 were blocked during Obama’s term. That was obstruction

So he had to wait. That means he'll only be a judge for 40 years instead of 41. He'll be fine.



Anonymous said...

I dont undestand how people like 1036 see judicial confirmation fights as anything other that tit for tat increasing obstruction on BOTH SIDES. If you think either side isnt 100% as guilty as the other, you have lost all ability to see things as they actually are.

Anonymous said...

11:52 I guess you just don't understand math. THE GOP blocked more of Obama's nominees than in the cumulative history of our country. That doesn't seem to me that each side is 100% guilty. But you're entitled to your opinion.

Meanwhile with Altman's confirmation the "spa" (aka Judge Lenard's courtroom as the AUSAs called it) is reopen!

Anonymous said...

1158
Math has nothing to do with it. Its all about power. If the dems could block EVEN MORE now than were blocked under obama, theyd do it in a heartbeat. They just were not able to win the senate to do so. You think otherwise? Stop pretending....

Nice totally preposterous comment on altman. The guy hasnt made a single ruling yet but you have him pegged? Based on what exactly? You live in a sad sad place my friend, filled with antipathy. Get yourself a beer and a pizza and cheer up....maybe youll like altman.

Anonymous said...

1:30
Oh Please! Spare me! Altman would not have gotten nominated without the Federalist Society gold seal of approval. That's not a personal attack. I do not know the man. But I do know the ideological bent that is required for Federalist Society approval.

Anonymous said...

847

Yale LS
11th Cir clerk
AUSA
Podhurst partner

I'm sure fedsoc helped, but let's not be delusional now. He's very qualified for his age and could still have gotten nominated by the JNC without fedsoc.

Anonymous said...

10:17 AM -- agreed. FedSoc is important for the courts of appeals. It doesn't matter for the district courts.