WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s liberal pick for a San Francisco-based appeals court survived his first Senate test Thursday but still faces strong Republican opposition.
The Judiciary Committee voted 12-7 along party lines to recommend confirmation of Goodwin Liu, a law professor at the University of California law school at Berkeley.
At stake in the nomination is the ability of Obama and congressional Democrats to get liberal nominees through the Senate.
While it’s unclear whether Republicans will try to block a vote, a clear sign of trouble came from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Judiciary Committee who has broken with his party on some judicial nominees, including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
“I’m in the camp that you can be an active Democrat … and still sit on the bench,” Graham said. “But this guy’s a bridge too far for me. He should take those views and run for office.”
If confirmed, Liu would be only the second Asian-American on a federal appellate court. Denny Chin was confirmed for the New York-based Second Circuit on April 22.
Knowing they had the votes, majority Democrats spent little time countering Republicans who assailed Liu as an activist who would rewrite the Constitution—a theme the GOP has used since his nomination.
