The Senate Judiciary Committee voted this morning to advance two of President Obama's appellate nominees, David Hamilton for the 7th Circuit and Andre Davis for the 4th Circuit. They now go to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote.
Hamilton, Obama's first nominee, was voted out along party lines, 12-7. Davis was 16-3, with Republicans Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma voting no.
A vote was also scheduled for Obama's other judicial nominee, Gerard Lynch, for the 2nd Circuit. But Sessions, the ranking member, requested that it be delayed for one week, according to a spokeswoman for Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond Law School, said he was troubled by the political bent of the debate over the lower-court nominees, especially Hamilton. "It was important that it was a straight party-line vote for Hamilton," he said. "It's troubling. I wonder if that's a precursor for what's to come."
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