November appears to be another month of Republican obstruction of qualified mainstream judicial nominees. So far this month, despite the substantial backlog of pending nominations, the Senate has voted to confirm only three judges. In the same period of time, the Senate Judiciary Committee has forwarded five qualified nominees to the floor, and more are on the way.

The backlog on the floor is growing due to the needlessly slow confirmation rate.

There are currently 24 qualified nominees waiting for a floor vote, 20 of whom received no opposition at all in committee. Many of the consensus nominees have been waiting for a vote since the summer. Eight of the pending nominees are judicial emergencies.

Without judges, the judicial branch cannot function, and the American people’s access to justice is delayed or even denied. There are 102 total vacancies, 31 of which are judicial emergencies.

Yet Senate Republicans refuse to consent to timely floor votes on consensus nominees, even when they are strongly supported by their home-state Republican senators. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy spoke out against the obstruction on the Senate floor yesterday:

During President Bush’s first 4 years, the Senate confirmed a total of 205 Federal circuit and district court judges. As of today, we would need another 90 confirmations over the next 12 months to match that total. That means a faster confirmation rate for the next 12 months than in any 12 months of the Obama administration to date. That would require Senate Republicans to abandon their delaying tactics.

Yesterday, voters in various parts of the country demonstrated that they want their elected officials to work for, not against, the American people. Ending the sabotage of the judicial branch of the United States government would be one way to show that Republicans are listening.