The Obama Administration is making another call for the Senate to stop its unprecedented holdup of the president’s judicial nominations. White House Counsel Bob Bauer said today that it’s time for the Senate to end its “cold war” over judicial nominees, reports TPM:

“We will do what it take to try to break through gridlock over some of these nominations,” Bauer said at an American Constitution Society panel. He said the judicial crisis creates “egregious delays for Americans seeking their day in court around the country.”

Bauer said there has been a disturbing lack of urgency in the political class about the crisis in the judicial system, but said he didn’t want to get into the typical finger-pointing about who is responsible for the crisis.

“The facts speak for themselves,” Bauer said, noting that the confirmation rate is perilously low and that the problem has been developing for a long time.

Numbers compiled by Senate Democrats in December said that the Senate saw the slowest pace of judicial staffing in a generation, with just 39.8 percent of Obama’s judges being confirmed.

But however the process got to this point, Bauer said that there is a growing recognition that “we can not in good conscious” allow it to continue.

“Republicans as well as Democrats increasingly acknowledge — some privately, some publicly — that we are witnessing something profoundly troubling,” Bauer said.

The slow pace of judicial confirmations has begun to have a real impact on the federal courts and their ability to provide swift access to justice. 49 vacancies on the federal bench have been labeled “judicial emergencies,” resulting in long delays for citizens waiting for their day in court. In all, there are over 100 empty seats in the federal courts.