For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 2, 2001
Letter from Judge Gonzales to Senators Regarding Judicial Nomination Process
May 2, 2001
Dear Senators:
I write in response to your letter of April
27, 2001. We agree on the importance of judicial
nominations and the need for the Administration and the Senate to
work together constructively to ensure the smooth
confirmation of federal judges. Although the
Constitution entrusts to the President alone the power
to propose nominees, we believe that
pre-nomination consultation between the
Administration and the home state Senators, regardless of party, will
facilitate this process.
Indeed, as some of you are aware,
we have already engaged in the sort
of process that your letter
encourages. We have had numerous discussions
with home state Democratic and
Republican Senators regarding process and existing
vacancies. In most cases, we have shared the names of
individuals under consideration for federal judicial appointment with home
state Senators at least a month prior
to the earliest conceivable date for a nomination.
In several cases, our consultation has included face-to-face
meetings with the home state Senators.
A number of additional such meetings are scheduled to take
place in coming days. We have taken the
Senators' reactions to potential nominees very seriously,
and we will continue to do so.
In sum, I am very pleased that our practices with
respect to the current group of vacancies we
have been working on so closely mirror what you have
proposed for the vacancies we will address in the future.
I have also recognized the special
responsibility each of you, as members of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, bears in this process. Thus, I
have met personally with all but two of you in
recent weeks and am attempting to schedule appointments with those of
you who were unavailable.
The primary purpose of these meetings -- aside from affording
us an opportunity to become better
acquainted -- is to exchange views regarding the nomination process.
Under the circumstances, we generally agree with your specific
suggestions for keeping home state Senators
informed and seeking their advice. Allowing for the
possibility that there may be specific instances
in which strict adherence to every
procedure described in your letter is
infeasible or inadvisable, and allowing for more specific
agreements regarding district court nominees as you suggest,
we will endeavor in good
faith to respect the suggestions
set forth in your letter as we work on additional vacancies
in the future. In all cases, you may be certain that
we will work hard to ensure that home state
Senators will have a suitable
opportunity to express their views
concerning possible nominees well in
advance of nomination. In return, we
expect that the names of potential
nominees will be kept in confidence
by the Senators consulted so as to
avoid the possibility of undue
embarrassment to potential nominees who, after consultation, are not
nominated.
In closing, I wish to thank
you for taking the time to communicate
your views to me. It is my
hope that as we move forward our efforts to
follow the suggestions in your letter
will help to ensure the Senate's
fair-minded and expeditious consideration of the President's
judicial nominees on their merits. As your letter
reflects, the purpose of advance
consultation is to ensure that the
President's nominees receive prompt hearings before your committee and
by the Senate as a whole. The President
will select his judicial nominees
based upon their character, integrity,
fairness, experience, and intellect.
We trust that the Senate
will evaluate them on the same standards.
Sincerely,
Alberto R. Gonzales
Counsel to the President
The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
The Honorable Herb Kohl
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
The Honorable Russell D. Feingold
The Honorable Charles E. Schumer
The Honorable Richard J. Durbin
The Honorable Maria Cantwell
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
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