Washington, DC – On news that  Srikanth “Sri” Srinivasan was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Constitutional Accountability Center Vice President Judith E. Schaeffer released the following comment:

“We applaud the Senate’s confirmation today of Sri Srinivasan to the D.C. Circuit in a vote that crossed partisan and ideological lines.  Mr. Srinivisan will fill one of four vacancies on the second most important court in the Nation. The question now is whether Republican Senators will continue this spirit of bipartisan cooperation, or – as some have threatened – resort to what is effectively a mass filibuster of President Obama’s future nominees to this court. 

“Make no mistake: a proposal by Senator Charles Grassley to eliminate the three remaining vacant seats on this critical court, under the pretext of re-balancing judicial workloads, is no more than a hypocritical, partisan ploy to keep President Obama from fully staffing the D.C. Circuit with qualified judges.  Senator Grassley and his Republican colleagues had no qualms about filling vacancies on this court during the George W. Bush Administration, when the Circuit’s caseload was even lower than it is today.” 

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Resources:

Constitutional Accountability Center letter in support of Srikanth “Sri” Srinivasan’s confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, May 17, 2013: http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/CAC_Letter_to_Senate_in_Support_of_Srinivasan_Confirmation.pdf 

“It’s Not Packing, Just Filling the D.C. Bench,” Judith E. Schaeffer, May 24, 2013:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324787004578497511399066342.html

“Did Senator Grassley Not Check His Inbox? — His Proposal to Gut the D.C. Circuit Ignores the Judicial Conference,” Judith E. Schaeffer, April 17, 2013: http://theusconstitution.org/text-history/1959/did-senator-grassley-not-check-his-inbox-his-proposal-gut-dc-circuit-ignores 

“While Acclaiming Srinivasan, Senate Republicans Propose A Mass Filibuster By Another Name,” News Release, April 10, 2013: http://theusconstitution.org/media/releases/while-acclaiming-srinivasan-senate-republicans-propose-mass-filibuster-another-name 

“Let’s Try This Again – Judiciary Committee Hearing for Srinivasan the Next Step to Fixing the D.C. Circuit,” Judith E. Schaeffer, April 3, 2013: http://theusconstitution.org/text-history/1940/let%E2%80%99s-try-again-%E2%80%93-judiciary-committee-hearing-srinivasan-next-step-fixing-dc 

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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