Truce, But No Treaty

Sen. Orrin Hatch weighs in on judicial nominees:

Those who founded this republic designed the Senate without the minority’s being
able to filibuster anything at all. After a rules change made the filibuster
possible, the Senate reserved its use to the legislative calendar and by
tradition did not use it for judicial nominees. We could have used the
filibuster to prevent confirmation of judicial nominations, but we did not do so.

In 2003, after 214 years, that tradition changed when Democrats blocked
confirmation of 10 majority-supported appeals court nominees by preventing any
confirmation vote at all.

The ends, however, do not justify the
unconstitutional means. We must restore the Senate tradition of up-or-down votes
for judicial nominations reaching the Senate floor.