Looming Nomination Skirmish?

The Sun Herald in Mississippi reported this week that Michael Wallace's nomination to the Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit is still pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee, despite the fact that the ABA rated him unanimously unqualified based on what it concluded was a lack of judicial temperament. Most of the report is accurate: Wallace's nomination is an incredibly divisive one, due in no small part to the almost unprecedented rating given to him by the ABA. There is one minor inaccuracy, though: the nomination is not still pending before the Committee; it has been returned to the president, who must now renominate Wallace if he wants Wallace to continue to be considered. The president is widely expected to do that, though, once the new session of Congress convenes in January. If (and when) that happens, Wallace’s nomination will likely be the most hotly contested before the Senate in the coming year, regardless of the results of the election on November 7.