As ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter has been a key voice for several years in determining which federal judicial nominations move through the process and which do not. Now that he has switched parties, and that central committee is poised to gain new leadership on the Republican side, how will that impact judicial confirmations going forward, including, eventually, to the Supreme Court? The Washington Independent reports that the senior GOP spot is Senator Grassley's (R-IA) if he wants it.
It will bear watching how smoothly Judiciary operates in the coming months, with 3 nominations to federal appeals courts already in the pipeline. Tomorrow in fact, 7th Circuit nominee David Hamilton is slated to re-appear for a hearing in the afternoon, a second chance to grill the author of the controversial Indiana House prayer decision demanded, to the chagrin of Democrats, by none other than Arlen Specter. We'll see how, and if, this hearing proceeds amid the shakeup.
More generally is this question: depending on the mindset of any new committee members, will the President be forced to adopt a different strategy in nominating judges? Might a filibuster-proof majority, should it come to that, move the process along much more quickly? Stay tuned.
