Right-wing judicial nominee held up... by Republicans

Less than a week ago I wrote about an RNC wesbite that set out to scare voters by telling of a near future run by Democrats in which Bush's judicial appointees would be blocked, leaving courts to languish. At the time, I pointed out the obvious Harriet Miers mess. But I wasn't counting on seeing another example of the GOP doing exactly what they warned against just six days later.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.), two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are holding up the nomination of Peter D. Keisler to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Bush administration’s top priority on judicial nominees this fall, according to knowledgeable sources.

But a spokesman for Sessions has denied his boss’s involvement.

Democrats and their allies are also hinting that they will oppose Keisler, but the opposition of Grassley and Sessions is surprising, as they have been two of the staunchest supporters of President Bush’s nominees.

The D.C. Circuit is important to White House officials because it is the second-highest court in the country and because it is expected to review the verdicts of military commissions on terrorist detainees, whose prosecution is a high Bush priority.

As the article points out, the nominee is dependably extreme, with a record of supporting Bush's torture measures. Which makes it even more confusing. The article presents some weak hypotheses on why the nomination is being blocked, but clearly the senators think it's to the Republican advantage to hold off on promoting a staunch Bush ally at this particular time... *cough* election season.