A single senator’s party defection can shift control of judicial confirmations.

Evidence

Yet things did not proceed as the president had anticipated. Barely five months into his presidency, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont defected from the Republican Party, giving the Democrats control of the Senate and the Judiciary Committee. Liberal interest groups, such as People for the American Way and the National Abortion Rights and Reproductive Action League, mobilized to oppose several Bush nominees to the courts of appeals. Some Democratic senators, recalling Republican opposition to Clinton nominees, slowed the process of confirmation; so did others who objected to what they claimed was the president’s attempt to pack the courts with conservative activists. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 503

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hamilton defended single-person judicial appointment checked by Senate confirmation. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 457; Senatorial courtesy gives home-state senators effective veto power over district court appointments — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 467; Divided government lowers judicial confirmation rates. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 501 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Filibusters and recess appointments weaponize judicial confirmation procedures #expands (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 513
• The Senate can block a judge via filibuster until a recess appointment #exemplifies (0.76) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 513
• A single political boss could reverse a referendum’s outcome by letting it be resubmitted #corroborates (0.73) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 920
• A single justice’s defection can flip a Supreme Court decision #exemplifies (0.72) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 950