Republicans filibuster D.C. circuit court nominee Halligan ’88

Senate Republicans filibustered a vote to nominate general counsel to the Manhattan district attorney’s office Caitlin Halligan ’88 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on March 6, The Washington Post reported. The Senate’s vote to end floor debate was 51 to 41, nine short of the supermajority necessary to proceed with the vote on Halligan’s nomination.

The Republicans who blocked the vote on Halligan’s nomination cited concerns that Obama’s nominations were a form of judicial activism.

“As we all know, judges who sit on the D.C. Circuit are frequently considered for the Supreme Court,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told The Washington Post. “This is a court where we can least afford to confirm an activist judge.”

Halligan, who served as New York State’s solicitor general from 2001 to 2007, is the second well-known appellate court nominee to be filibustered by Republicans in recent years. Obama nominee Goodwin Liu withdrew his name from consideration for a seat on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2011 after facing a prolonged Republican filibuster.