And so the ridiculous saga of the Tea Party U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the judicial nominee he recommended that he's delaying a vote for continues:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) insisted Wednesday that he's not blocking one of his own judicial nominees for political reasons -- even as he is still refusing to give the Senate Judiciary Committee the green light to give that nominee a hearing.
Toomey has been getting pummeled back home for the Senate's delay in confirming Luis Felipe Restrepo to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. President Barack Obama nominated Restrepo in November with Toomey's strong support, but the nomination hasn't moved since. In the meantime, the vacancy he would fill has been deemed a "judicial emergency," which means the court is drowning in cases.
The Republican senator is being blamed because he hasn't turned in his "blue slip," an indicator to the Judiciary Committee chairman that Toomey is ready to move forward with the nominee. The committee won't move forward on any nominee until it has the blessing of both home-state senators. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) turned in his blue slip for Restrepo in November.
That leaves Toomey as the holdout. - Huffington Post, 5/13/15
Toomey struck back by writing an op-ed piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette claiming he's not holding up his own nominee:
http://www.post-gazette.com/...
As a senator, I have become accustomed to being criticized for things I have done. But it is a little harder to hear criticism for things that I have not done — specifically, your editorial board’s false assertion that I am somehow delaying the nomination of Judge L. Felipe Restrepo to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (“Unjust Delay: Toomey Is to Blame for a Stalled Nomination,” May 10 editorial). Even worse, your board then ascribed a false motive for the actions that I never took.
I fully support the president’s proposal to elevate Judge Restrepo to the 3rd Circuit, just as I supported his confirmation to the federal district court. In 2012, I joined Sen. Bob Casey in asking the White House to nominate Judge Restrepo to the district court, I urged my colleagues to vote for Judge Restrepo and I happily voted for his confirmation.
The first step to Judge Restrepo’s confirmation to the 3rd Circuit is a thorough background investigation. No hearing or vote goes forward until that investigation is completed. The Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet completed that investigation.
That is the reason the committee has not yet held a hearing on Judge Restrepo’s nomination — a fact that could have been easily learned with a call to the committee. I have made it clear to the committee that I plan to turn in my “blue slip” — the formal manifestation of my support for Judge Restrepo — the day that investigation is completed, provided no issues of concern are discovered. - Pittsburgh Post-gazette, 5/13/15
But Paul Gordon, Senior Legislative Counsel, People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation, called out Toomey's B.S. on the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
But that convenient explanation raises more questions than it answers and, in fact, doesn't pass the laugh test.
Since Judge Restrepo already had a thorough background investigation for his confirmation to the district court in 2013, why does it take half a year to complete one that covers only the short interval since then? It took less time to do background checks and proceed to hearings for people nominated at the same time, but who had not already been thoroughly vetted by the Judiciary Committee.
And why didn't Toomey make this simple and quick explanation when asked by the Huffington Post's Jennifer Bendery earlier this month? Instead, he took the time to say that he didn't have time to explain, then he ducked into a senators-only elevator.
And why didn't Sen. Grassley mention this when asked by Bendery on the same day, before the crush of bad press that Toomey is now responding to? When asked when the hearing would be, Grassley cited only the blue slip and said nothing about an ongoing background investigation. (After the media scrutiny of Toomey began to mount, Grassley cited the background investigation rather than the lack of a blue slip as the cause of the delay.)
And even if we accept the background investigation story, why hasn't Toomey been pushing the committee to hurry it up, considering this is to fill a judicial emergency on a court where a second vacancy will be opening in just a few weeks? - Huffington Post, 5/13/15
Yeah, nice try pal. Toomey just doesn't want to be hit by his fringe right-wing base for getting a Obama approved judge confirmed. This is all about appealing to his right-wing base who he's angered in the past for supporting ENDA and background checks while also trying to dupe voters that's a center-right Republican and not a crazy Tea Partier (which he is). While Democrats in my home state figure out who their nominee is, I for one back Joe Sestak's (D. PA) comeback bid. Click here to donate and get involves with Sestak's campaign:
http://joesestak.com/