The Federal Court
I would like to make a simple point that seems to be overlooked in all of the “noise” about nominations: the Federal courts are the third branch of government, not an extension of the executive branch.
There is a very definite difference between a President nominating someone to a position in the executive branch, and nominating a judge. The President should be given some leeway in selecting the people who will work for him/her. These are people who will be implementing the policies of the President, so I would restrict objections to competence and criminality.
When it comes to judges the bar should be raised considerably. Federal judges receive lifetime appointments and constitute a force for checking the power of the other two branches. It is reasonable to expect greater degrees of competence for the higher courts than the lower, and the Senate should be an equal partner in the process. The executive and legislative branches should achieve consensus on judges.
The President is elected to head the executive branch only. There are no elections for Federal judges. Read the Constitution, it’s in there.
