WASHINGTON – Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) has given his approval to advance a Philadelphia judge's nomination to the third circuit U.S. court of appeals, clearing one potential obstacle for a nominee that critics argued was being stalled over politics.
Toomey has submitted his so-called "blue slip" to the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving his blessing to holding a hearing on the nomination Luis Felipe Restrepo, now a federal district court judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. A spokeswoman for the senator confirmed the move.
By tradition, the committee will not hold a confirmation hearing until it receives blessings - in the form of the signed slips - from a nominee's home-state senators. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) turned in his in November, shortly after Restrepo was nominated to fill an emergency vacancy.
Liberal groups blasted Toomey in recent weeks, accusing him of privately delaying Restrepo's confirmation while he publicly praised the judge. But Toomey said he had not slowed the nomination at all, since the committee was still doing a background check. It would not hold a hearing while that review was ongoing, even if Toomey submitted his slip, he said earlier this month.
"I am supportive of Judge Restrepo, as I have said repeatedly, and I'm also confident that he will be confirmed," Toomey said in early May. "There is nothing that I could have done at this point that would have Judge Restrepo in any different circumstances."
Republicans on the judiciary committee warned that the background check was essential before advancing a nomination for a lifetime spot on the bench. Democrats saw stall tactics intended to hamper President Obama. They noted that Restrepo had cleared a background check before being confirmed for his current post in 2013.
The new background check has been completed, a Toomey spokeswoman confirmed.
Restrepo, a former civil rights lawyer in Philadelphia, would fill a judicial emergency, a designation based on the size of the caseload when there is a vacancy. The third circuit court hears appeals of cases brought in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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