Obama Too Cautious on Judge Picks?

President Obama is being criticized as being too cautious, moving too tentatively, to infuse the federal courts with a new roster of judges.

In his first nine months, Obama has won confirmation of just three of 23 nominations for federal judgeships. The Washington Post notes that even though the Senate is controlled by Democrats, the Republicans have been able to use anonymous holds and filibuster threats to slow proceedings.

But some Democrats aren't just blaming the GOP. Rather, critics blame Obama's bi-partisanship emphasis as having emboldened Republicans to dig in.

"I commend the president's effort to change the tone in Washington," Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is quoted saying. "I recognize that he is extending an olive branch to Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and in the Senate overall. But so far, his efforts at reconciliation have been met with partisan hostility."

Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, says the pace needs to quicken for political reasons: "It is incumbent on the Democrats and the White House to push as hard as they can to confirm judicial nominees, given that next year Republicans will make an all-out effort to block candidates as a means to gin up their base before the election."

Meanwhile, caseloads continue to back up, with 90 vacant seats on appellate and district courts.

The White House tells the Post that it expects nominations and confirmations to pick up soon.

"The administration has been working closely with members of Congress to identify a set of uniquely qualified judicial nominees with diverse professional experiences," Ben LaBolt, an Obama spokesman, tells the paper. "This process has been bipartisan and we have made every effort to make confirmation wars a thing of the past."