WASHINGTON (AP) - No longer impeded by Republican blocking tactics, Democrats are on track to win confirmation of up to 88 of President Barack Obama's top judicial nominations this year, a total that would be the highest for any president in two decades.
Last year, Democrats made it harder for Republicans to derail Obama's nominations by weakening the Senate's rule on filibusters. So far this year, the chamber has approved 76 federal court of appeals and district court judges, all of them lifetime appointments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is hoping to confirm a dozen more before adjournment later this week - votes he is pushing with the knowledge that the Republicans who control the Senate next year will be less accommodating.
Whatever this year's figure, it will easily surpass the 43 approved last year and the 49 confirmed in 2012. It will also increase Obama's imprint on the federal judiciary, though judges don't always champion the political ideology of the president who picked them.
"He's changed the face of the judiciary," said Russell Wheeler, who studies the judiciary for the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. "Whether or not that will have a long-term impact, I think, is another question."
If the Senate confirms 88 of Obama's judicial selections, that would be the highest number since a Democratic-led Senate approved 99 of President Bill Clinton's appeals and district court nominees in 1994, according to Wheeler.
Several lawmakers said Democrats got a chance to consider more nominees than expected after conservatives led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, forced a weekend vote on Obama's executive actions deferring the deportation of millions of immigrants. They said that gave Reid more time to hold votes on nominations.
"I think most people would say yes to that. People make mistakes," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, adding, "I admire anybody who's willing to stand up on the floor and make their case."
Cruz spokesman Phil Novack disagreed that Cruz's move gave Reid an opening, writing by email, "Everyone knows Harry Reid planned to jam forward as many nominees as he could."