From the NYT
Mr. Menendez would not comment. But the nominee, Patty Shwartz, has been in a relationship for more than two decades with the head of the public corruption unit for New Jersey’s federal prosecutor. And that unit investigated the senator during his 2006 election fight, an inquiry Mr. Menendez has long contended was politically motivated.
Judge Shwartz, now a federal magistrate judge in Newark, a lower-level position, declined to comment. But the connection has led lawyers and judges in the state to speculate that Mr. Menendez is acting out of resentment, rather than any concern about Judge Shwartz’s qualifications.
“Every lawyer in the world will tell you that she’s extraordinarily qualified, a decent person and an excellent judge, and would be an asset to the circuit,” said Tom Curtin, the chairman of the lawyers’ advisory committee for the United States District Court for New Jersey. “This was going to be words and music for her, then something happened.”
Judge Shwartz was to succeed Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald Trump's sister.
Good job Senator! Your petulant tantrum, Republicanesque in form and function, is awesome and helpful, because the Federal judiciary is just overflowing with judges. Nope, nary a backlog in sight (what? 85 openings in 858 judicial seats seems high to you?).
Democracy without accountability is despotism. Senator Menendez is engaging in a personal vendetta as retribution for an ethics investigation that included a subpoena timed to make his campaign against Tom Kean Jr. extraordinarily close and hard fought. The Times article has the details.
The details don't matter.
What matters is a US Senator is holding back a qualified jurist from the US Court of Appeals because he has a sad.
What matters is that, yet again, a member of this broken Congress is exerting his petty will to the detriment of 99% of us. Remember that old adage "justice delayed is justice denied?" Well, when you don't have judges to hear cases then justice gets denied.
Unacceptable.
Unacceptable when Orrin Hatch does it. Unacceptable when Mitch McConnell does it. Unacceptable when a Democrat does it.
You can let the Senator from New Jersey know what you think about his cranky destruction of justice here