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In a quiet news statement sent out at 3 p.m. on a Friday, the Obama administration officially withdrew the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals' D.C. Circuit, replacing John Roberts. The withdrawal leaves the court with only seven of its eleven members in place — and reemphasizes the problem of slow or blocked judicial nominations.

Two weeks ago, the Senate voted for the second time on whether or not Halligan should be confirmed to the bench. Except: not really. It actually voted on whether or not to end the filibuster that had blocked Halligan's confirmation for months, a vote that requires 60 votes. Halligan got 51.

The vote prompted a response from the Boston Globe.

Obama has never been able to get a nominee on the court, symbolizing the Senate’s failure to approve nominations to dozens of courts nationwide. As a result, four years after Obama took power in the White House, Republican appointees still hold a 4-to-3 majority over those named to the court by Democratic presidents, and that has resulted in a series of conservative rulings that affect the lives of millions of Americans.

Last weekend, The Times offered the diagram at right, showing how the Senate's inaction on confirmations has left the majority of appeals circuits short of a full bench. It also noted that obstruction of Bush appointees was eventually overcome by a bipartisan agreement avoiding filibusters — an agreement that has since been abandoned.