Goodwin Liu Withdraws

CFJ Executive Director Curt Levey on the withdrawal of Ninth Circuit nominee Goodwin Liu:

“We are pleased but not at all surprised that the nomination of Goodwin Liu is being withdrawn just days after it was rejected in a Senate cloture vote. There was speculation that Majority Leader Harry Reid would force another cloture vote on Liu at some point, but there was nothing for Senate Democrats or the White House to gain by pressing the issue. There is no larger point about GOP obstruction to make—Liu is the only Obama judicial nominee to be successfully filibustered—and no larger principle to fight for—Liu’s radical record sets him apart from even the most liberal of Obama’s other nominees. In our view, Liu’s nomination was doomed from the start, as Rahm Emanuel likely recognized in opposing it.”