— Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked an attempt to confirm 17 nominees for federal judgeships, including one from Tulsa.

The move means Tulsa attorney John E. Dowdell — like Robert E. Bacharach, a U.S. magistrate judge in Oklahoma City — will have to wait until after the Nov. 6 presidential election to find out whether he will be confirmed. Senators and House members are expected to leave Washington this week until mid-November.

Dowdell has been nominated for a U.S. district judgeship in Tulsa and Bacharach for a seat on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is a step below the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate Republicans in July blocked an attempt by Democrats to get a vote on Bacharach.

Both Oklahoma nominees sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support and would be easily confirmed if not for presidential politics. Republicans have been blocking votes on judicial nominees for several weeks, hoping Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will win the election and replace President Barack Obama's pending judicial nominees with his own.