The Senate Must Act to Confirm the President?s Nominations to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

Contact: Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org

Washington, D.C. -- Following is a statement by the Communications Workers of America on President Obama’s nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is considered to be the second most important court in the nation, after the U.S. Supreme Court, because of the issues it hears, its responsibility for federal agency review and its impact on millions of Americans. That’s why the nominations announced by President Obama today to fill three vacancies on this court are critical, and why the Senate must act to confirm them.

The President is making appointments and nominations as part of the job he was elected to do, not “packing the courts,” as some Republican senators wrongly claim. The politics of gridlock, all too obvious in today’s U.S. Senate, have no place in our democracy. The President’s nominations, whether for judgeships or federal agencies, deserve the advice and consent of the Senate, not obstructionism.