Texas on the Potomac
Senate stalemate over Obama consumer watchdog stalls Texas judicial nominees
By Gary Martin on February 11, 2012 at 6:16 AM
Texas has more stalled judicial nominees than any state but New York. (AP photo)
A Republican effort to stall President Barack Obama's judicial nominees in the Senate as a protest to the recess appointment of a consumer watchdog could leave Texas with five vacancies on federal benches.
Texas could have as many as seven vacancies by the end of the year, with pending retirements, more than any other state except New York.
And Senate Democrats and liberal groups are putting pressure on the state's two Republican U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn to break with the Republican opposition and push for a vote on two Texas judicial nominees awaiting confirmation.
The nominees, assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Costa of Houston and U.S. Magistrate Judge David Guaderrama of El Paso, have the support of the Texas senators and approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee for posts in Galveston and El Paso, respectively.
In addition to Costa and Guaderrama, there are 16 other judicial nominations by Obama waiting for full Senate approval.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said all of the nominees have "the support of this or her home state senators, Republican and well as Democratic."
"There is no excuse for continued stalling of President Obama's consensus judicial nominees. The courts and the country cannot afford another year of across-the-board delays of President Obama's judicial nominees," Leahy said.
A liberal-leaning advocacy group in Austin, Progress Texas, urged Cornyn and Hutchison to pressure Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to schedule an up-or-down vote on the nominees.
"Instead of sitting on the sidelines, we need our elected senators to fight for Texas," said Matt Glazer, Progress Texas executive director.
Progress Texas said filling the vacancies is critical for the state. Dockets in Southwest border states are overloaded due to an increase in criminal drug cases.
A Hutchison spokesman said "we have made it clear to the White House and Senate leadership that we are unequivocally supporting the confirmation of these two highly qualified individuals."
"Sen. Cornyn has been steadfast in his efforts to fill Texas' vacancies on the federal bench, and he intends to work with Senate Democrats to see that these two pending nominees are confirmed," said Drew Brandewie, a spokesman for the senator.
Reid has not scheduled a vote on the pending nominations because of Republican opposition, retaliation for the Jan. 4 recess appointments by Obama of nominees to National Labor Relations Board and Richard Cordray to the Consumer National Protection Bureau, said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond School of Law professor.
Republicans opposed the Cordray appointment to the newly formed consumer watchdog post.
"They are still furious about that," said Tobias, who tracks federal judicial appointments.
Tobias said the only way Texas senators would be successful in getting confirmation for their candidates would be to prevail upon other GOP lawmakers to drop opposition to a vote.
Upon confirmation, Guaderrama would fill an El Paso vacancy in the Western District of Texas, which includes San Antonio, Del Rio, Austin and Waco.
There is another San Antonio vacancy in the district.
Costa, who would fill a vacancy in Galveston, is prosecuting the high-profile Houston case against R. Allen Stanford, a financier accused of running a $7 billion investor fraud scheme.
There is a second vacancy in Corpus Christi in the Southern Judicial District, which also includes Houston and Laredo.
A vacancy also exists in Marshall in the Eastern Judicial District.
Two more vacancies in Texas are expected this year when District Judge David Folsom in Texarkana retires in March, and District Judge Hilda Tagle of Brownsville takes senior status in December.
Seven judicial vacancies would give Texas just one fewer than New York, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
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