Barack Obama Quotes

I think my independence was a big help to getting Judges Roberts and Alito confirmed, and I think that's recognized.

I will not vote in favor of Senator Sessions' nomination for attorney general.

The Senate should consider a rule ensuring that every judicial nominee receives a vote by the Senate within 180 days of being nominated by the president.

I would hope that the Senate would do its job and confirm the nominee that President [Barack] Obama has sent to them. That's the way the Constitution fundamentally should operate. The president nominates, and then the Senate advises and consents, or not, but they go forward with the process.

This [Judge Samuel Alito] may be one of the most significant or consequential nominations that the Senate will vote on since I've been here in the last three decades.

We respect the role of the Senate. We respect the authority of the Senate to look at the qualifications of Judge Roberts, and at the end of the day I'm optimistic that if given a fair hearing and a fair opportunity, that he will be confirmed.

We are engaged in immediate conversations with the White House on deliberations over a successor whom we hope will continue in the general direction of Attorney General Holder.

I think the Democrats are catering to them, but, you know, in the entire history of the United States of America, there has never been a judge who has been refused a vote when there was a majority of Senators willing to vote for his confirmation, never in history.

I feel very confident that that information should be sufficient for the members of the Senate to make an informed decision about John Roberts' qualifications.

Not one of the Senators who voted to confirm Clarence Thomas would hire him as their lawyer.

You come here recommended by one of the most respected members of the U. S. Senate, a friend of mine. But other than that fact, I do not know why you should be the head of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention rather than any one of 215 million other Americans, except maybe they are not as old as you.... Why you? What is there about you that qualifies you to head up this department instead of Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith or Mr. Anybody? [Regnery was confirmed.]

You don’t hold Presidential nominees for Attorney General hostage to other issues.

Deciding whether to confirm a president's nominee for the highest court in the land is a responsibility I take very seriously.

Voting for a candidate for the DC circuit is very different from confirming someone to the US Supreme Court. I have been very clear that the Senate should not confirm any nominee in a lame duck session.

Any Supreme Court confirmation needs to be a thoughtful process, with full respect for the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution.

Loretta Lynch is supremely qualified to be our nation's top cop, and she should be confirmed immediately.

Filling a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court is a solemn process for our nation, and I hope Senate consideration of Judge Barrett will not descend into the dishonorable spectacle that Americans witnessed during the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Until I got to the nomination of Judge Gorsuch and so much preparation time, I really wasn't familiar with the blue-slip process. But it's time-honored.

Even before the hearings that led to confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts, senators were saying they were reserving judgment on how they would vote until they got to know him better at the hearings.

While the president is to nominate that individual [to Supreme Court], we in the Senate must provide our advice and consent. This function is not well-defined. The Constitution does not set down a road map. It does not require hearings. In fact, it does not even require questioning on your understanding of the Constitution nor the role of the Supreme Court.

The role of the nominee in the confirmation process is like that of the bridegroom. Stay out of the way and be on time.

I suggest that the executive appoint or nominate the Judges to the Senate which should have the right of rejecting or approving.

We are successful. The New York nominations, Merritt and Burt, were confirmed against Arthur and Cornell, after five or six hours' debate by a vote of thirty-three to twenty-four.

The most important rule for a nominee in a confirmation hearing is the 80/20 rule. If they are talking 80% of the time and you are talking 20%, you’re winning. If its 60/40, it means you are arguing. If it is 50/50, it means you have lost and you’d better throw in the towel.

I served in two administrations very high up in the Justice Department.