The committee is already expected to spar over the first federal judicial nominees that Mr. Bush is expected to submit soon.

For more than 20 years after Unger's nomination, no other federal judicial nominee earned a unanimous "not qualified" rating from the ABA.

A group of Senators is using the filibuster delay tactic to block federal judicial nominees from a simple "yes" or "no" vote.

In the Senate, it refers to slips on which Senators from the state of residence of a federal judicial nominee give an opinion on the nominee.

In the Senate, a blue slip is an opinion written by a Senator from the state where a federal judicial nominee resides.

I will not confirm a federal judicial nominee who I believe will vote to uphold Roe vs. Wade.

Hard-nosed politics has obstructed the confirmation process for many federal nominees, Mr. Light said, including a deputy secretary for the Energy Department.

He also is a former federal judicial nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

He also is a former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

He was a federal judicial nominee for more than 10 months in 2011, but his nomination immediately encountered opposition from Oklahoma's congressional delegation.