President Bush Announces Nominations
Yesterday, President Bush announced seven judicial nominations and five nominations for top positions at the Department of Justice. In a statement, Senator Leahy noted today that the Senate Judiciary Committee reported out 40 judicial nominations this year, which is in excess of total confirmed in 2004 and 2005 combined. Senator Leahy said that when the Judiciary Committee receives the Department of Justice nominations, "they will go to the top of our priority list."
The judicial nominations are:
- Gene E. K. Pratter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Rod Rosenstein to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Mark Davis to the Eastern District of Virginia
- David Gregory Kays to the Western District of Missouri
- David Novak to the Eastern District of Virginia
- Carolyn Short to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Richard Morrison to the United States Tax Court
At the Federalist Society's annual convention yesterday evening, President Bush described the nominees as "outstanding." The Washington Post notes that Maryland's Senators oppose Rosenstein's nomination, support traditionally required for confirmation.
President Bush's nominations to the Department of Justice are:
- Mark Filip, a federal district court judge in Chicago, to be Deputy Attorney General
- Kevin O'Connor, United States Attorney in Connecticut and chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales, to be Associate Attorney General
- Gregory Katsas, Acting Associate Attorney General, to be Assistant Attorney General Civil Division
- Grace Chung Becker, currently with the civil rights division, to be Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division
- Nathan Hockman, in private practice, to be Assistant Attorney General Tax Division
At the Federalist Society's convention, President Bush mentioned the nominees, declaring Attorney General Mukasey needs "a strong team to support him at the Department of Justice." The New York Times notes that "three of the five nominees have worked in the department in the Bush administration" and are likely to be questioned regarding ties to "some of the administration's most controversial legal policies."
Senator Leahy noted that "we have helped cut the number of circuit vacancies from a high water mark of 32 in the early days of this Administration to as low as 13 this year."