Senate approves last judges of Clinton era

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Four more federal judges chosen by President Clinton were approved overwhelmingly by the Senate Tuesday, most likely putting a cap on the Democratic president's nomination power.

But underneath that approval ran a strong current of discontent, with Democrats accusing Republicans of holding up their judges and Republicans blaming Democrats for meddling with the senatorial process.

Unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled Senate were U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia, the first Hispanic woman on the federal bench in Arizona; U.S. District Judges Susan Bolton and James A. Teilborg, also from Arizona; and U.S. District Judge Michael J. Reagan of Illinois.

But the confirmations were almost an afterthought to the debate on how the Republican-controlled Senate treated Clinton's nominees.

In eight years, Clinton got 377 of his nominees approved by the Senate. In comparison, President Reagan got 382 during his two terms and President Bush got 193 during his one term.

But Democrats bitterly complained that some of their nominees never even made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, including former Iowa Attorney General Bonnie Campbell, who wanted a position on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Roger Gregory of Virginia, who wanted to become the first black member on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Judiciary Committee "is effectively standing in the door of the courthouse blocking the nomination," said Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va.

They noted the speed with which the last four judges made it to the Senate floor, with three of the new judges being from Arizona, which has two Republican senators, a majority Republican House delegation and a Republican governor.

The committee approved the four on July 27, said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the ranking Democrat, who admitted that Arizona needs federal judges badly.

However, "they moved very, very, very rapidly," he said. "A lot of the judges we discussed here today who are judicial nominees have waited and waited and waited but haven't received a vote."

And Democrats also resumed allegations that the Senate didn't move as fast on minority and female nominees as they did on male and non-minority candidates.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus earlier this year claimed that delays in approving Clinton's minority and female judges showed racist and sexist tendencies in the Senate. Republicans have denied the claim.

"Those allegations of racial bias are beneath a Senator in the United States Senate and are insulting," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

And Hatch returned fire to Democrats for not getting many of their judges through. Hatch said Clinton ruined relations with the Republican-controlled Senate by making temporary appointments while the Senate was not in session during August.

Those Clinton nominees will serve until the next administration without needing the approval of the Senate.

And complaints about election-year politics from the Democrats don't wash, Hatch said.

"In 1988, the Democrat-controlled Senate confirmed 41 Reagan judicial nominees," Hatch said. "After these four nominees are confirmed today, the Republican Senate this year will have confirmed 39 of President Clinton's judges, a nearly identical number."

Clinton on Tuesday nominated one more judge, Melvin C. Hall, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

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