Received this e-mail today from former Rep. Joe Sestak's (D. PA) U.S. Senate campaign:
Newspapers across Pennsylvania are inquiring as to why Sen. Toomey is saying one thing in Pennsylvania but doing the opposite in Washington, D.C., by holding up the nomination of Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo. Last year, Toomey said in Pennsylvania that Judge Restrepo will “make a superb addition to the Third Circuit.”[1]
But in D.C., Toomey has refused to submit his “blue slip” for the nomination to proceed, even though the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts declared a “judicial emergency” for appeals out of Pennsylvania.[2]
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Toomey Holding up Confirmation of Pennsylvania Jurist He Supports
Toomey “reiterated that support Tuesday but dodged questions about why he hasn’t submitted his blue slip. Instead, he said he was in a rush and disappeared into a Senators-only elevator in the Capitol on his way to a Caucus luncheon.”[3]
The Legal Intelligencer: Political Maneuvers Holding Up Nominee for Third Circuit
“U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, has publicly supported Restrepo's nomination to the circuit court, but he's holding up the confirmation process for Restrepo by not submitting the so-called ‘blue slip.’”[4]
The Allentown Morning Call: What’s Holding up a Pa. Appeals Court Nominee?
“Is Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey holding up the nomination of a federal appeals court judge who he supports?” Toomey's spokeswoman E.R. Anderson “declined to elaborate on why his blue slip has not been submitted, saying that the vetting of nominees is intended to be a confidential process.”[5]
Yet again, we have an example of Sen. Toomey saying he wants to work in a bipartisan way in Pennsylvania, but then continues his partisan obstructionism in Washington, D.C.
And that’s nothing new. Sen. Toomey tells Pennsylvanians that “I have typically supported those nominees,”[6] but he ranks with Ted Cruz and Rand Paul as one of the most obstructionist Senators in Washington.
THE FACTS
Out of the 100 Senators in Congress, Toomey ranks as the 9th most obstructionist.[7]
Toomey voted against cloture 3 out of every 4 times in the first four years of his term.[8]
When Attorney General Loretta Lynch was up for Senate confirmation, Toomey said he was “impressed with Lynch’s credentials,”[9] but then voted in Washington, D.C., to filibuster her nomination – even though 20 Republicans voted with Democrats to end the obstructionism.
Toomey then voted against Attorney General Lynch’s bipartisan nomination, even though 10 Republicans joined Democrats in approving Lynch.
Toomey was one of only 27 Senators who voted to filibuster Chuck Hagel’s nomination for Defense Secretary,[10] even as Pennsylvania's former Republican Governor Tom Ridge (the nation's first U.S. Homeland Security Secretary) said Hagel would lead the Pentagon with “honesty and integrity.”[11]
He filibustered Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s nomination[12] for purely partisan reasons, justifying his vote by saying on Facebook that Dr. Murthy “advocated for policies that would erode our important Second Amendment rights.”[13]
He gave his reasons for opposing Attorney General Loretta Lynch via a fundraising email, telling his financial backers that he will oppose her nomination “due to concerns about whether she would uphold the rule of law and defend the Constitution.”[14]
[1] http://articles.philly.com/...
[2] http://blogs.rollcall.com/...
[3] http://www.post-gazette.com/...
[4] http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com/...
[5] http://www.mcall.com/...
[6] http://www.toomey.senate.gov/...
[7] http://killfil.com/...
[8] http://killfil.com/...
[9] http://www.mcall.com/...
[10]http://www.senate.gov/...
[11] http://www.politico.com/...
[12]http://www.senate.gov/...
[13] https://www.facebook.com/...
[14] http://centristatheart.blogspot.com/...
If you would like to donate and get involved with Sestak's campaign, you can do so here: