Bush Lags Clinton and Reagan in Judicial Confirmations

President Bush’s legal legacy is being stymied by a Democratic Senate that will probably approve few of his remaining nominees for federal judgeships.

So far Bush has won confirmation of 294 district and appellate judges, and his final numbers are likely to be below that of presidents Clinton and Reagan, Legal Times reports. Both of the former presidents had more than 370 of their candidates confirmed.

Curt Levey, the executive director of the conservative Committee for Justice, said he expects few additional confirmations before Bush leaves office next Jan. 20. "At the pace we're going, we will be lucky to get to 10” appellate confirmations, he told Legal Times.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says it didn’t have to be that way. Reid told the Senate in February that the president had rejected an offer to confirm more than 84 nominees in exchange for the withdrawal of a controversial Justice Department nominee, Steven Bradbury.

Bush has also created controversy by failing to select nominees who have the backing of their home state senators. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is refusing to move on nominees without such endorsements.