Michael Boggs
Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
told The New York Times that the nomination Michael Boggs is over. President Obama nominated the controversial Boggs—who as a Georgia state legislator was stridently anti-abortion and pro-Confederate flag—in a deal with Georgia senators to get approval for a slate of seven nominees. But
opposition from Democratic senators has torpedoed the nomination, and Leahy says Boggs should withdraw.
“He doesn’t have the votes," Leahy told the paper.
Boggs, who is up for a lifetime post on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, has been under attack all year from progressive groups and Democratic lawmakers over his socially conservative track record as a former Georgia state legislator. Among other things, he voted to ban same-sex marriage, to keep the Confederate insignia on the Georgia flag and to require doctors to post online their personal information and the annual number of abortions they performed.
Boggs was opposed by civil rights groups, by women's groups, and by a growing list of Democratic senators, including
leadership. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would not commit to holding a floor vote on Boggs even if the nomination made it out of committee.