This is ridiculous:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is preventing one of his own judicial nominees from moving forward, for reasons nobody seems to understand.
Toomey has long supported Luis Restrepo, who President Barack Obama nominated in November to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. When Restrepo was nominated to be a district court judge in 2013, Toomey ushered him through the process, hailing his record as a magistrate judge and his volunteer work in the community. He boasted about Restrepo being one of three Latino federal judges he helped to confirm, and when Obama tapped him to be a circuit court judge last year, Toomey called him a "superb" choice.
But Toomey is now blocking Restrepo's nomination by not submitting his so-called "blue slip" to the Judiciary Committee, which gives the chairman a green light to move forward with a nominee. The committee won't take up a nominee until both home-state senators turn in their blue slips. Pennsylvania's other senator, Bob Casey (D), turned his in a while ago. - Huffington Post, 5/5/15
Why would Toomey do this? Sorry, he just doesn't have the time to answer that question:
"No, I'm not. Well, let me explain how that works to you. But I've got to run for this lunch," he said, walking away quickly. "But I support his confirmation."
Now there is a legit reason why this is becoming a judicial emergency:
In the nearly six months that he's been waiting for a hearing, the vacancy he would fill has become a "judicial emergency." That means the number of cases per panel of judges on that court exceeds 700, or is between 500 and 700 for more than 18 months. The more overloaded those judges get, the more delays there are in justice being carried out.
Sounds like someone is afraid to piss off his conservative base because he faces re-election next year. Well it's this type of shit that makes Toomey appear vulnerable and more focused about next year's election than doing his job. While PA Democrats figure out who their nominee should be, I for one back Joe Sestak's (D. PA) comeback bid. Click here to donate and get involved with his campaign:
http://joesestak.com/