By The White House
12:53 P.M. EDT
MR. CARNEY: Hello, everyone. It’s very good to see you. Thanks for taking care of Josh in my absence last week.
Before I take your questions, I want to say a couple of things. One, and perhaps most importantly, I apologize for keeping you here to miss the opening pitches of the
Red Sox versus Yankees game and the Marlins at the Nationals here. I, for one, wish I were at the stadium, because it’s going to be a very exciting season I think for Nationals and
Red Sox fans, of which I am one.
I’d also like to say something about the fact that this morning, the
Senate Judiciary Committee announced its hearing for our D.C.
Circuit Court nominee,
Sri Srinivasan. As you know, Sri is the Principal Deputy
Solicitor General, but you may not know that Sri was born in
India and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, eventually becoming an all-star point guard at
Lawrence High School. And, of course, he is still recovering today from the loss by his beloved
Kansas Jayhawks over the weekend.
Sri is of course also a highly respected appellate advocate who has spent a distinguished career litigating before the U.S.
Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals, both in private practice and on behalf of the
United States for both Democratic and
Republican administrations. He has argued before the
Supreme Court 24 times; drafted briefs and several dozen additional cases; and has also served as lead counsel in numerous cases before the federal and state appellate courts.
As a testament to how highly regarded he is by members of both
parties, 12 former officials from the
Solicitor General’s office — six of them Democrats, six of them Republicans — all announced their support for Sri today. The signatories of the letter, including
Paul Clement,
Ted Olson,
Ken Starr, and
Walter Dellinger, write, “Sri has a first-rate intellect, an open-minded approach to the
law, a strong work ethic, and an unimpeachable character. Sri is one of the best appellate lawyers in the country.”
The D.C. Circuit, as you know, is often considered the nation’s second-highest court, but it has twice as many vacancies as any other court of appeals, and its workload has increased by over 20 percent since 2005. Sri’s confirmation will be an important first step to filling this court’s four vacancies, and he will be, when confirmed, the first
South Asian circuit court judge in history.
We also urge the Senate to move swiftly to confirm the 15 additional judicial nominees waiting for votes. Of those 15, 13 were approved out of the
Judiciary Committee unanimously; not a single
Republican dissent. And four would fill judicial emergencies; six are represented by
Republican home-state senators who support their nominations.