Senate says NO to Obama Nominee

In a victory for the rule of law and a strict adherence to the Constitution, the U.S. Senate has rejected the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

As detailed in our memo here, Professor Liu has a record that is clearly hostile to a literal interpretation of the Constitution and open to incorporation of foreign law in judicial rulings.  Combined with his extremely thin legal experience, it was clear that he was unfit for the appeals court, despite being twice nominated to the post by President Obama.

However, until today, it was not at all clear whether or not the Senate would approve his nomination in spite of these facts, as Senate Democrats appeared united behind him and some Senate Republicans expressed a hesitancy to filibuster a judicial nominee, no matter how bad the record. 
 
There's good news to report.  We're pleased that 42 Republicans and one Democrat (Ben Nelson, NE) understood the dangers of this nomination and the extreme views of the nominee.  In the final tally, the Senate’s vote of 52-43, with one Senator voting present and another four Senators absent, was well short of the 60 votes needed to move the nominee forward.
 
This is a great victory for the Constitution and the rule of law, and we're grateful to those who stood in opposition to this nomination.