Washington - President Barack Obama will have to re-submit Louis Butler's name to the Senate next year if he still wants the Wisconsin judge to fill a slot on the federal bench.
Butler was among seven nominees who failed to gain Senate approval before the chamber adjourned for the year. Republican leaders could have agreed to allow the nominations to continue pending in the Senate but insisted on sending the names back to the White House - effectively signaling their opposition to the nominees. . . .
Obama could choose to re-submit his picks in January but a single Republican senator could still block the nominations through what are known as "holds" under Senate rules. Senate leaders would then have to marshal at least 60 votes to lift the holds and move the nominations forward for confirmation. . . .
Butler was one of two judicial nominees whose names were sent back to the White House. The other was Edward Chen, nominated for a federal judgeship in the Northern District of California.
Three Justice Department nominees were also blocked: Dawn Johnsen, slated to lead the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, and Christopher Schroeder and Mary Smith, picked to serve as assistant attorney generals. The two others were: Craig Becker, who had been nominated to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, and David Teeples, nominated to be a brigadier general in the Army.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/80302282.htmlThis is infuriating, :banghead: but maybe not unexpected when you think about how nasty Republicans can be. We'll hope that the president resubmits him next year.
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