Senate confirms David Hamilton, controversial appeals court nominee

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Senate has confirmed David Hamilton for the Chicago-based federal appeals court after Democrats stopped a Republican filibuster. Conservatives targeted Hamilton, labeling him a liberal activist.

Hamilton, a U.S. district judge from Indiana, was approved 59-39 and became the eighth of President Obama’s judicial nominees to win confirmation. He is the third nominee confirmed to serve on an appeals court.

Republican senators — backed by their conservative allies outside Congress — had blocked a vote for five months until their filibuster was overcome Tuesday, 70-29.

The failure to stop the confirmation showed Republicans lack the clout to hold up Obama’s judicial nominees as the president remakes the federal judiciary following eight years of George W. Bush’s mostly conservative choices for the bench.

--Associated Press