4th Circuit Nomination Criticized
One of President Bush’s two new nominees for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is under fire because he wasn’t on a recommended list drawn up by Virginia’s two senators.
The nominee, E. Duncan Getchell Jr., chair of the appellate practice group at McGuireWoods, has represented the Virginia Republican party, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Bush also nominated Steve A. Matthews of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd in Columbia, S.C. There are currently five vacancies on the Richmond-based 4th Circuit. The court is known as a conservative bastion, but that could change if Republicans fail to win approval for Bush’s nominees, the Washington Post reports.
Senators Jim Webb, a Democrat, and John Warner, a Republican, had submitted five names to the White House for consideration for the 4th Circuit seat usually reserved for a Virginian.
“Today, despite our good faith, bipartisan effort to accommodate the president, the recommendations that Senator Warner and I made have been ignored,” Webb said in a statement. “The White House talks about the spirit of bipartisanship, lamenting congressional obstructionism. The White House cannot expect to complain about the confirmation of federal judges when they proceed to act in this manner.”
