Cloture vote on DC candidate ends in filibuster

December 8, 2011

Washington, D.C.: A cloture vote on the candidacy of Caitlin J. Halligan, nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ended with a filibuster on December 6, 2011. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled the vote in an effort to move her nomination forward. 44 Democrats and 1 Republican voted to go forward with the nomination, but 54 Republicans voted against it, which made for a shortage of 6 votes of the 60 required to end a filibuster. The lone Republican to break with the party line was Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska who said that judicial nominees deserve a Senate vote except under extraordinary circumstances.

Senator Charles Grassley, the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, indicated that the reason for blocking the nomination had less to do with Halligan's qualifications than it did with payback for Democratic stalling of judicial nominations of George W. Bush. However, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, suggested that Halligan's record indicated she viewed the courts as a forum for advancing her personal views more than the place to dispense justice. President Obama was critical of the Republican response to Halligan, saying that "Her nomination fell victim to the Republican pattern of obstructionism that puts party ahead of country. Today’s vote dramatically lowers the bar used to justify a filibuster, which had required ‘extraordinary circumstances.’ The only extraordinary things about Ms. Halligan are her qualifications and her intellect."