Updated on Nov. 2
President Barack Obama on Monday withdrew the nomination of a U.S. magistrate judge whom he tapped for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Obama first nominated Charles Day in July 2010 to fill a vacancy in the court’s Greenbelt, Md.-based Southern Division left by U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte, who took senior status in 2008. But there was neither a hearing nor a vote on his nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee before the Senate adjourned in December 2010 or after the president renominated him for the judgeship in January. If confirmed, he would have filled the only vacancy on the court, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
A spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee referred inquiries to the White House. A White House spokesman didn’t have an immediate comment. A representative for Day referred inquiries to the office of Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
Mikulski and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said in a joint statement that Republicans didn't allow the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a confirmation hearing for Day, adding that they're "very disappointed" that his nomination stalled in the Senate.
"Judge Day is an extraordinary jurist, greatly respected by the Maryland legal community," they said. "He has the experience and qualities that are needed in our judges. He also understands the day to day lives of ordinary Americans, and the need for their rights to be protected."
A spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The former nominee started as a U.S. magistrate judge in Maryland in 1997. He previously worked at Sherman, Meehan, Curtin & Ain as a civil litigation attorney and served as an assistant state’s attorney for Montgomery County, Md.
Comments