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Senate Rules Change Allows Confirmation of Record Number of Judicial Nominees

In its final days, the United States Senate wrapped up a session marked by obstruction and gridlock by confirming scores of critical judicial and executive nominations.

A total of 89 district court and circuit court judges were confirmed this year, bringing the total for the Obama presidency to 305. That's ahead of the Bush, Clinton and Reagan records for the same period in their administrations. Read more here.

These confirmations could not have happened without the work of CWA, with partners Alliance for Justice, Sierra Club and other Fix the Senate Now coalition members who waged a two-year effort to push for sensible Senate rules reform to ensure that presidential and most judicial nominations would receive an up-or-down vote on their merits.

"If you go broad, and bring enough people and organizations on board, and go deep, by building huge grassroots support for change, you can accomplish things that no one would have believed," CWA President Larry Cohen said.

Before the rules change, there were 45 judges confirmed in 2013 and 49 judges in 2012. After the rules change, the number of confirmed judges doubled in just one year.

At the height of the campaign, 2 million members of Fix the Senate Now organizations mobilized for this critical rules reform that was finalized in November 2013.

The rules change also meant that nominees to key agencies like the National Labor Relations Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Environmental Protection Agency and many others were confirmed, and that those agencies could continue operating.

Since Dec. 12, the Senate has confirmed 69 of President Obama's executive nominees, according to the Los Angeles Times. This total includes dozens of qualified nominees, including a nomination to the Election Assistance Commission who has been waiting since April 2010 for a vote. These were qualified nominees who were stuck in limbo simply because of the Republican strategy of obstruction.

The Senate rules reform enacted a year ago was a first step in the right direction. But there's a long road ahead to continue to improve the functioning of the Senate and, with it, the health of our democracy.