Senate OKs Elizabeth Wolford as federal judge

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate confirmed Rochester-area lawyer Elizabeth Wolford on Thursday as the first woman to be a federal judge for the Western District of New York.

The vote was 70 to 29.

"It's an honor," Wolford said in a telephone interview following the vote. "I really can't express what a privilege it is."

Wolford expects there will be a transition period before she assumes the position, which she said will likely happen sometime in January.

"I haven't planned anything in terms of transition or hiring staff or anything of that nature," she said. "And I was waiting to do that until there was an actual vote in the Senate. So now that's happened, I have a lot of work to do to make the transition. But I am excited about it."

Professor Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law described Wolford as "well-qualified and noncontroversial."

Even so, some Senate Republicans opposed Wolford as part of their continuing protest to a change to Senate rules that majority Democrats pushed through to end GOP filibusters. The change allows simple-majority votes on all judicial nominees except those to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Glenn Sugameli, a senior lawyer at Defenders of Wildlife who tracks federal judicial nominations, interpreted the 29 votes against Wolford's confirmation as a protest of the rules change.

"There was not a word spoken on the merit of Wolford," he said.

Wolford, a partner in the eight-attorney Wolford law firm with her father and brother, will succeed retiring U.S. District Judge Charles Siragusa in the Western District of New York.

"I have worked for the same law firm for over 20 years," she said. "Not only am I leaving private practice, but I'll be transitioning to being on the bench. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of challenges ahead, but I look forward to taking them on and doing the best I can to tackle them."

Siragusa is continuing to work, but is taking senior status.

Wolford's confirmation brings to five the number of federal judges based in Rochester, with three on senior status. The Rochester court also has two federal magistrates.

President Barack Obama nominated Wolford in May based on the recommendation of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Wolford's nomination on Aug. 1 by voice vote.

Her confirmation had been delayed by a backlog of judicial nominations awaiting Senate votes.

Before last month's rules change, judicial nominees needed a 60-vote supermajority to win confirmation.

The change, dubbed the "nuclear option," does not apply to nonjudicial executive appointments such as Cabinet secretaries.

Democrats resorted to the change after Republicans repeatedly refused to fill three vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Republicans argued that the three positions weren't needed, even though those seats were filled by the GOP during the presidency of George W. Bush.

The D.C. appellate court is considered the nation's second-most important because it rules on challenges to executive branch actions.

This week, Republicans have forced the Senate to use all time available to debate each nomination, even though the Senate floor has been devoid of senators most of that time.

The Senate remained in session continuously overnight Wednesday and early Thursday as Democrats forced a vote on a pending appellate court nominee around 1 a.m. and used the remaining overnight hours for an executive branch nominee to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

BTUMULTY@Gannett.com

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