Obama's SCOTUS Nominee Suffers Longest Confirmation Delay in History

Americans have never had to wait longer than 125 days for a Supreme Court nominee to be confirmed. That's over now.

One hundred years ago, in 1916, Justice Louis Brandeis waited 125 days after he was nominated to be confirmed. Due to unprecedented obstruction from Republicans in the U.S. Senate, that record is about to be broken.

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Tuesday, July 19, is the 125th day since President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to serve on the Supreme Court. He ties the inglorious record on Tuesday, and breaks it on Wednesday. 

You read that right - this week President Obama's SCOTUS nominee officially faces the longest confirmation delay in history.

The American people want a vote on Garland - two-thirds have said they want a hearing for the nominee. But it's important to remember that the U.S. Supreme Court isn't the only court facing vacancies.

Texas' federal courts currently have twelve vacant seats, and Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are refusing to support nominees they already put forward for some of Texas' vacancies. For others, they refuse to put forward a suggestion (as required) at all.

Here's a look at all the vacancies in Texas' federal courts:

CIRCUIT/DISTRICT EMERGENCY DATE OF VACANCY LENGTH OF VACANCY Since 7/19 NOMINEE
5th Circuit Court of Appeals Yes 12/31/2013 931 None
5th Circuit Court of Appeals Yes 8/1/2012 1448 None
Southern District Yes 6/1/2011 1875 None
Southern District Yes 5/20/2014 791 None
Northern District Yes 2/3/2016 167 None
Northern District Yes 12/31/2014 566 Frost, E. Scott
Northern District Yes 7/3/2013 1112 Ramirez, Irma Carrillo
Northern District Yes 5/1/2016 79 Hendrix, James Wesley
Western District Yes 2/13/2015 522 Counts III, Walter David
Eastern District Yes 1/7/2016 194 None
Eastern District Yes 5/15/2015 431 None
Eastern District Yes 3/10/2015 497 Scholer, Karen Gren

Added together, and that's twenty-three years worth of vacant seats in Texas' federal courts.

Enough is enough. #DoYourJob