Even before President Barack Obama entered the White House, Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio personality, hoped the president would fail. Like clockwork, conservatives in Congress have blocked the president at nearly every turn. Frustrated, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) has chosen a “Nuclear Option.”
This is not an actual war involving weapons of mass destruction. However, it is a war-like power struggle with collateral damage. Their weapon is obstruction. African Americans and women are among those blocked from getting judgeships and government jobs by Tea Party conservatives, a vocal minority within the Republican Party.
Those blocked nominees include Robert L. Wilkins, a Federal District Court judge in Washington, whom the president nominated to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and Congressman Melvin Watt (D-NC), who was nominated to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Born in Indiana, Robert Wilkins, a Harvard graduate, is known for his early stand against racial profiling in Maryland. His successful lawsuit, Wilkins v. Maryland State Police, stems from an unlawful stop and search of his car by police there. His case led to national changes in law enforcement.
Republicans have not criticized the qualifications of Wilkins or Watt. But, conservative senators are using the filibuster to obstruct their progress.
A congressional vote is required when the president nominates a person for a high government office. Congress was given this authority in Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution. The President must seek the advice and consent of Congress.
“The Republican Caucus has turned ‘advise and consent’ into ‘deny and obstruct,’ said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “In addition to filibustering a nominee for Secretary of Defense for the first time in history, Senate Republicans also blocked a sitting member of Congress from an administration position for the first time since 1843,” said Reid.
Then, Reid chose the “Nuclear Option.” He changed the rules in a Senate deeply rooted in tradition. Reid said he had little choice. “Only 23 district court nominees [for judge] have been filibustered in the entire history of this country,” said Reid. “Twenty of them were nominated by President Obama.”
Since federal judges sit for life, this war within Congress is a power struggle with far-reaching consequences. A seat on the D.C. Court of Appeals places Robert Wilkins within a hairsbreadth of reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. A position on any Court of Appeals is significant. But, the D.C. Circuit court is known as the second most powerful court in the nation.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy nominated civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall to a position on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. His nomination was blocked by conservative senators in the South. Yet, Judge Marshall would eventually take his place on that court before becoming the first black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967.
Although this 113th Congress wasted an unprecedented amount of time on partisan obstruction, Reid’s “Nuclear Option” has made it possible for highly qualified candidates like Judge Robert Wilkins to receive justice in Congress.
It was one hard fought battle in a political war that is far from over.
Gloria J. Browne-Marshall is an associate professor of constitutional law at John Jay College and a legal correspondent covering the U.S. Supreme Court.
