Links: Goodwin Liu

Over a week ago, Republican senators filibustered Goodwin Liu's nomination as a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, abandoning bipartisan promises about the importance of filling empty seats in the federal courts and denying him the chance for a straight up or down vote. This is particularly despicable because of the 2005 agreement to prioritize judicial confirmations as a national interest, which took the tactic of filibustering off the table.

In fact, as Dahlia Lithwick points out in this article, even Senator Johnny Isakson of Liu's native Georgia who once said he ""will vote to support a vote, up or down, on every nominee—understanding that, were I in the minority party and the issues reversed, I would take exactly the same position because this document, our Constitution, does not equivocate," broke faith and voted no. Way to suck, Republicans.

The filibuster essentially puts Liu's nomination and limbo and he has withdrawn his name from consideration, sending a letter to President Obama thanking him for the support but addressing the near impossibility of moving forward with the nomination. The letter is here.

I frankly admit - I paid especial attention to Liu's nomination because he's of Taiwanese descent, and obviously this is disappointing to the Asian-American and Taiwanese-American communities. But the heart of the issue is not about his nomination as an Asian-American, but the hypocritical abandonment of a fair process. It's disappointing that our elected politicians continue to refuse to work together in a reasonable manner, ignoring existing bipartisan promises and what is clearly a pressing need to fill vacant federal judgeships.

Way to suck, government.

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Further analysis of Liu's relative youth (and therefore eligibility for Supreme Court consideration in the future) and how it affected his nomination in this article. More hypocrisy...