Senate Republicans – already being condemned for their unprecedented obstruction of highly qualified judicial nominees with strong bipartisan support – today responded to that criticism by escalating their partisan obstruction to even more extremes. Today, after finally overcoming the four-month obstruction of an unopposed circuit court nominee, Senate Democrats were forced to file cloture on the nomination of an unopposed district court nominee, one who worked for and has the support of Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey: Jesse Furman, nominated to the Southern District of New York.

It would be hard to overstate just how absurd this is. When George W. Bush was president, Democrats routinely approved District Court nominees, frequently without even a recorded vote.

Adding to the absurdity of the filibuster, Republicans have given no reason to vote against Furman’s confirmation. He is a respected lawyer who has devoted his legal career to public service, serving under both Democratic and Republican administrations. After law school, he clerked for Justice David Souter, Judge Michael Mukasey (a Reagan nominee to the Southern District of New York) and José A. Cabranes (a Clinton nomine to the Second Circuit). He worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York during the George W. Bush Administration. For two years during that time, he was detailed to work as Counselor to Mukasey, who had by then become Attorney General under President Bush. In 2009, he returned to the Southern District of New York to become Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

One might think Mukasey’s strong support for the nomination would give Republicans reason not to filibuster. He wrote this of Furman: "All I can hope to add is my own belief that he is a person to whom one can entrust decisions that are consequential to the lives of people and to the general welfare of the populace, with confidence that they will be made wisely and fairly … and I urge that he be confirmed."

Mukasey is not alone. The ABA has analyzed his record and found him qualified. A unanimous Judiciary Committee agreed.

There are currently six judicial vacancies in the Southern District of New York. Furman’s nomination to fill one of those vacancies has been pending on the Senate floor for five months now.

This latest filibuster is an outrage. Republicans haven’t just moved the goal posts. They’ve moved the entire stadium. The American people deserve so much better than this.