Gang of 14
Senate Democrats used the filibuster to prevent the confirmation of ten conservative court candidates nominated by Republican President George W.In the 109th Congress, five of the remaining seven filibustered nominees (Priscilla Owen, David McKeague, Richard Griffin, William Pryor, and Janice Rogers Brown) were confirmed as a result of the deal brokered by the Gang.In addition, the gang opposed the confirmation of two remaining nominees, Henry Saad and William Myers, leading them to withdraw their nominations.While thwarting the goals of their respective party leaderships, the group members were hailed as moderates and institutionalists who put aside partisanship to do what was best for the Senate.The Gang became active again in July 2005, attempting to advise Bush on the choice of a nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.On November 3, 2005, the group met to discuss the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Court, but came to no conclusions, noting that the hearing process had only just begun in his case.This memorandum confirms an understanding among the signatories, based upon mutual trust and confidence, related to pending and future judicial nominations in the 109th Congress.[6] The immediate and proximate political result of the agreement was the curtailing of Democratic filibusters and the short-term end to the "nuclear option" debate.Three judicial nominees not explicitly mentioned in the original Gang deal were confirmed under its provisions: David McKeague, Richard Allen Griffin and Thomas B. Griffith.The compromise was further tested by the confirmation battle over the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement.Although Boyle, Myers and Haynes were renominated, again no action was taken on them in the Senate Judiciary Committee before the break, and their nominations were sent back a second time to the White House on September 29.Republican "Gang" members Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Mike DeWine of Ohio were replaced by Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse and Sherrod Brown, respectively.[18] As the new majority party, the Senate Democrats easily blocked several conservative appellate judicial nominees during the 110th Congress by ordinary methods.On November 17, 2009, two members of the Gang of 14 – Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Graham (R-SC) – voted against the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of U.S. District Judge David Hamilton, President Obama's pick for a vacant seat on the Seventh Circuit.[20] Though Democrats were a majority in the Senate after 2006, Republicans blocked several Appellate Court nominees of President Barack Obama by use of the filibuster.[21] After Republicans regained control of the Senate, McCain voted in favor of the nuclear option in order to get Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court.