MinnLawyer Blog

The U.S. economy shed 131,000 jobs in July, nearly double the amount analysts had hoped and predicted. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.5 percent.

As employers continue to cut back on employers, there is at least one segment of the economy that has job openings that remain open. According to a recent story in the L.A. Times about one in eight federal judge seats are open and no one is moving to fast to fill them. Of the 102 openings, there are only nominees pending for 39 seats.
President Barack Obama’s judicial confirmation rate is an abysmal 47 percent– the worst in 30 years.

Some argue that the low confirmation rate is payback for Democrats stalling President George Bush’s judicial nominations, but that doesn’t explain why there are not even nominations for more than 60 openings. One possible explanation for this is that Obama has returned to the practice of allowing the American Bar Association to vet potential nominees, a more time consuming practice that according to the article was abandoned under his predecessor. Another issue is that Obama has filled two spots on the U.S. Supreme Court so far which effectively puts a stop to filling seats on the lower courts.

In Minnesota, Magistrate Judge Susan Nelson has been nominated by Obama to be a U.S. District Judge but awaits confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Her confirmation, however, would not make a dent in the state’s unemployment rate because she is already employed.