By Andrew Damstedt
President George W. Bush sent several judicial nominations to the Senate including renominating Thomas Griffith, BYU?s general counsel.
Bush renominated Griffith earlier this week to become the U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. Griffith?s nomination never made if out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last year because there were questions about not having a Utah law license while he served as BYU?s general counsel.
Bush resent 20 judicial nominations to the Senate that were blocked by Democrats during his first term.
?Every judicial nominee deserves a prompt hearing and an up or down vote on the floor of the United States Senate,? Bush said at Attorney General Alberto Gonzales? swearing in ceremony Monday.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, pushed for Griffith?s nomination last year and confirmation through the Senate, said he hopes that this time around, the nomination will make it out of committee.
?Tom Griffith is eminently qualified to serve on the federal bench, and my colleagues ? whom he served with distinction for several years ? know that very well,? Hatch said. ?This really should not be a contentious nomination.?
Griffith?s first nomination came in an election year when the Democrats were hoping for a change of power in the White House. But the only change came when Republicans gained a few more Senate seats increasing the chances of Bush?s nominations being confirmed. The Democrats still have the necessary 40 votes to hold up a filibuster when the nominations reach the Senate floor.
?The question comes down to whether Mr. Griffith will become a pawn in a partisan game of obstruction or whether the Senate will buckle down and do what we were elected to do, and what we have a constitutional responsibility to do: give each nominee on the Senate floor an up-or-down vote,? Hatch said.
Griffith came to BYU in August 2000 to work as General Counsel and Assistant to the President. Before coming to BYU, he served as Senate Legal Counsel to the U.S. Senate from 1995-1999. Griffith graduated from BYU in 1978 and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1985.