More judicial obstruction from Pennsylvania’s junior U.S. Senator, Wall Street errand boy and Tea Party darling:
It was just July when Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) was raving about the four judicial nominees he recommended to President Barack Obama.
"I am pleased that President Obama will nominate Judge Susan P. Baxter, Judge Robert J. Colville, Judge Marilyn J. Horan, and Judge John M. Younge to serve on the federal district court in Pennsylvania," Toomey said at the time. "These nominees possess a wealth of legal experience from their work in both the public and private sectors. I am confident that they have the acumen, integrity, and respect for the limited role of the judiciary that they need to excel as federal judges."
Today, Toomey is blocking those nominees in the Senate Judiciary Committee. He hasn't turned in his so-called "blue slips" to signal that he's ready to give them a hearing, and the committee won't move forward on any nominee until both home-state senators have turned in the documents. (They're literally blue pieces of paper that signify a senator's support.) Pennsylvania's other senator, Bob Casey (D), turned in all four of his blue slips in August.
Not only is Toomey holding up his own nominees, but he's also got more outstanding blue slips than any other senator.
Toomey spokeswoman E.R. Anderson said the senator wants the committee to finish its background checks on the nominees before turning in his blue slips.
"Along with Senator Casey, Senator Toomey recommended the four candidates to the White House to be nominated to the federal bench and he remains fully committed to getting them confirmed as soon as possible," said Anderson. "As he has regularly done with other judicial nominees, Senator Toomey looks forward to each of them successfully completing the Senate Judiciary Committee’s background investigation so he can submit the corresponding blue slips immediately thereafter to ensure that the confirmation process continues without delay."
That reasoning doesn't hold up, though. Blue slips have no bearing on a committee's review of nominees; they simply signal to the chairman that a senator stands by his or her nominee and is ready to move forward as soon as the committee is ready. Nominees have already gone through an extensive vetting process by the time they even get to the committee.
Someone is clearly scared of conservative voters yelling about a GOP Senator helping Obama appoint more federal district nominees. With Toomey being a top target in next year’s election, he’s just bidding his time hoping nothing gets done to not piss off the Tea Party crowd.