Secret holds and blocked votes: American Democracy in the U.S. Senate

– The U.S. Senate is an anti-democratic institution of this republic, emphatically so when the GOP is in the minority –

From the Brennan Center:

According to Wade Henderson, the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Elena Kagan’s recent confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court “should not obscure the fact that President Obama’s opponents are engaging in an unprecedented use of secret holds and filibusters to delay – and ultimately deny – confirmation votes for a significant number of highly qualified nominees to the federal district and circuit courts.” 

Before recessing for the summer, the Senate held a handful of confirmation votes on judicial nominees.  According to a related NPRsegment, however, Republicans who have regularly objected to holding Senate votes on Obama’s judicial candidates blocked votes on more than 40 other candidates and returned the nominations of Goodwin Liu and Edward Chen of California, Albert Diaz of North Carolina, Raymond Lohier of New York, and Jane Stranch of Tennessee – each of whom previously won Senate Judiciary Committee approval on a party-line 12-7 – to the White House.

NotesL Bob Egelko, Republicans Block Bay Area Judicial Nominees, San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 2010; Avril Lighty, Civil Rights Community Urges Senate to Move Judicial Nominations, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, August 9, 2010; Carrie Johnson, Republicans Block Liu’s Judicial Nomination, NPR, August 10, 2010; Editorial, One In, Two Still To Go, News & Record, August 10, 2010.