Confirmation

The Senate just confirmed Sonia Sotomayor as the newest justice on the United States Supreme Court by a vote of 68-31.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), presiding over the vote, announced at 3:14 pm, “On this vote, the yeas are 68 and the nays are 31. The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor of New York to be an [...]

A vote on Harold Koh’s nomination to be legal adviser to the State Department is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. Yesterday, after cloture passed on Koh, I asked Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council for a reaction on a nominee his group had campaigned hard against.
“I thought the vote would be a little closer,” said [...]

President Obama’s pick to lead war effort said time on the ground is critical to provide specific answers on key issues.

It been nearly sixty days since he was first nominated, but the Senate Judiciary Committee has finally voted 17-2 today to send Eric Holder’s nomination for attorney general to the full Senate for confirmation. A Senate vote is expected this week.
The positive outcome of the vote was expected after the committee’s ranking Republican, Pennsylvania Sen. [...]

Well, this doesn’t look too good, does it? A recent lobbyist for Goldman Sachs, Mark Patterson, is in line to become chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, ABC news reports. And more former lobbyists also are expected to be filling some key administration jobs as well. All this seems to fly in the [...]

Now that Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder’s confirmation hearings have more or less wrapped up (he still has to answer some questions in writing to a few members of the minority), Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has scheduled a vote Wednesday to send the nomination to the full Senate, the day after President-elect Barack Obama’s [...]

Glad to know someone is asking some hard-hitting questions. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) closed his unremarkable, pandering questioning with the fluffiest of fluffy inquiries, asking Eric Holder if he’d do his best to “defeat” President-elect Barack Obama if Holder faces him on the basketball court:

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) predictably started right in on questioning Eric Holder on his involvement with Marc Rich. Starting with this generous quote:
“it’s a little hard for me to see how you came to the conclusion you did,” Specter opened. “Conceding the fact that none of us is perfect.”
Holder reiterated that the incident was not [...]

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) just gave Eric Holder the chance to preempt the minority questions on Marc Rich, and I think this quote sums up what his talking points will be on the subject:
“I will be a better attorney general, having had the Marc Rich experience.”
Holder also said that he supports the Media Shield Law, [...]

The Los Angeles Times has the last of its series on things Republicans are saying about Attorney General-designate Eric Holder, whose confirmation hearing kicks off this morning.
GOP staffers investigating Holder’s background say that although he has downplayed his connections to [Illinois' Democratic Gov. Rod] Blagojevich, new information suggests Holder did legal work for Blagojevich on [...]