Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution provides that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint… judges.” What is the appropriate role of the Senate in discharging its constitutional responsibility of “Advice and Consent” to the President’s nominations to the Judiciary? How should the United States Senate evaluate nominees to the federal bench? In today’s extremely partisan political atmosphere, that is a hotly debated question. For an appropriate answer, it is necessary to review history, analyze why confi rmation of judges is now such a mean-spirited fi ght, how we reached this point, and carefully
consider how we should proceed in the future....