Confirmation percentage

You often hear that a higher percentage of President Bush's judicial nominees have been confirmed than nominees confirmed under President Clinton.

Gerry Daly has a useful rejoinder, in handy tabular form. Note that the data is for Circuit courts only. The number to zero in on: During the 107th Congress, covering one two-year period, 35 nominees were "returned" to the President, which Daly sensibly defines as "the Senate returned the nomination to the President upon a Senate adjournment or recess of more than 30 days (essentially, the Senate did not act on the nomination)." Thirty-eight Clinton nominees were returned under President Clinton's entire administration, including 18 during the 106th Congress, when Clinton was truly a lame duck (Reagan, Bush 41 and Clinton all saw spikes in the "returned" numbers during the final two years of their presidencies).