Good news for President Obama's federal appeals court nominee Goodwin Liu. Once again -- for the third time -- the Senate Judiciary Committee has recommended the UC Berkeley law professor for a federal judgeship: Senate panel again OKs Liu for appellate court.
On Thursday, Democrats voted in support of his nomination and all Republicans on the committee voted to oppose him on a 10-8 party line vote. However, this time one Republican, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, predicted that Liu would probably get confirmed:
Thursday's 10-8 committee vote showed the same partisan split as previous votes. But one Republican, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, said he had met with Liu, found him to be "a brilliant man ... honest and open," and wanted in his heart to vote for him, even though "my brain tells me something different."That's far short of an actual endorsement, but conservative support for Professor Liu has actually started to pick up. No one can deny that he has a brilliant mind for the law. At this point, it's downright silly that's it has taken this long for a confirmation. Here's an editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle, which says it in the simplest terms: Senate must confirm Goodwin Liu to appellate court.
"I think ultimately he'll probably get confirmed, and my hope would be that he'll prove my heart right and my mind wrong," Coburn said.
And here's the press release from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association: Professor Goodwin Liu Voted out of Committee, Asian Pacific American Leaders Renew Call for Quick Confirmation Vote.