The Senate will vote on President Obama’s nomination of Berkley law professor Goodwin Liu to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today. Politico‘s Meredith Shiner reports that Liu “teeters toward a loss”:
Democrats need seven Republicans to join them in supporting Liu to overcome a filibuster, but several key Republicans said Wednesday they would not support the 39-year-old law professor from the University of California, Berkley. And if just one more Republican says no, Liu will fail to break the filibuster.
Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mark Kirk of Illinois — all of whom helped Democrats confirm Jack McConnell to a Rhode Island district court earlier this month — said Wednesday they would not support Liu’s bid.
The other eight GOP senators who voted earlier this month to support McConnell did not offer a clear response on how they plan to vote on Liu.
Ed Whelan lays out the case against Liu at NRO’s Bench Memos blog.
