A record of obstruction

Alliance for Justice recently released a report on the state of the judiciary during the first three years of the Obama administration. In the report, we examined the historic obstruction of President Obama's nominees by Senate Republicans.

The Senate has confirmed far fewer nominees at this point in President Obama’s first term than it had confirmed for his two predecessors in office. Specifically, he trails President Bush by 47 confirmations and President Clinton by 56 confirmations.

President Bush and President Clinton had approximately 200 confirmed nominees at the end of their first terms, and had approximately 70 more nominees confirmed than Obama had at the end of three years. In order for President Obama to match President Bush’s confirmations, over 70 nominees would need to be confirmed this year.

In addition to confirming fewer of President Obama’s nominees than his predecessors, the Senate has also confirmed President Obama’s nominees at a lower rate. This trend is particularly notable for district court nominees, where Obama badly trails both Presidents Bush and Clinton.


For more information on the pace and obstruction of Obama's judicial nominees, download our latest report, "The State of the Judiciary: Judicial Nominations During the First Three Years of the Obama Presidency."