SHARE Senate Democrats tried Tuesday to force a confirmation vote on nearly a dozen judicial nominees, including Edward Stanton III of Memphis, but Republicans quickly shut them down.

By Michael Collins of The Commercial Appeal

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats tried Tuesday to force a confirmation vote on nearly a dozen judicial nominees, including Edward Stanton III of Memphis, but Republicans quickly shut them down.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and other Senate Democrats called for a vote on 11 non-controversial nominees, including some who have been waiting for more than a year. Schumer charged the GOP has unnecessarily delayed the votes and has brought the judicial confirmation process to a standstill.

Twenty nominees, including Stanton, already have won the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee and are awaiting a final vote on the Senate floor.

"We are urging our colleagues to do their jobs," Schumer said from the Senate floor.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, objected to giving the nominees a vote, thwarting the Democrats' efforts.

The fight over President Barack Obama's judicial nominees has become an election-year flashpoint between Republicans and Democrats.

The most high-profile battle involves the GOP-controlled Senate's refusal to even give a hearing to Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. But more than three dozen seats on federal appellate and district courts also have sat vacant while nominees await confirmation.

Stanton, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, was nominated last May by Obama for a U.S. District Court judgeship. He has the support of both of the state's senators, Republicans Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, and was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last October.

Stanton is fourth in line for a confirmation vote, right behind nominees from Maryland, New Jersey and Nebraska. He is the last of three Tennessee nominees awaiting a vote.

The Senate voted two weeks ago to confirm Nashville attorney Waverly Crenshaw Jr. to a U.S. District Court judgeship in Middle Tennessee. Travis McDonough of Chattanooga was confirmed last December to a U.S. District Court judgeship in East Tennessee.

McConnell challenged the Democrats' argument the GOP is failing to do its constitutional duty and give the pending nominees an up-or-down vote. Republicans are confirming Obama's judicial nominees at a faster pace than Democrats approved nominees under President George W. Bush, McConnell said.

The Senate has confirmed 324 of Obama's nominees — 21 more than had been confirmed under Bush at this point in his presidency, McConnell said.

"President Obama has been treated fairly," he said.

Democrats and their allies argue those numbers are misleading. Obama has faced more vacancies than Bush, which is why his overall number of confirmations is slightly higher, according to the liberal advocacy group Alliance for Justice.

Republicans have confirmed just 17 judges in Obama's final two years, the slowest pace in more than half a century, Democrats say. By comparison, Senate Democrats confirmed 68 Bush judges in his final two years in office.

After Senate Republicans refused to let Obama's judicial nominees go forward on Tuesday, both Corker and Alexander reiterated their support for Stanton.

"While Senator Corker does not control the floor schedule and which judicial nominees are brought up for confirmation, he remains supportive of Mr. Stanton," Corker's office said. "The senator, who is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced Mr. Stanton to the committee when it met to consider his nomination last September and has encouraged his colleagues to support his confirmation."

Alexander's office also noted that he told the Judiciary Committee that Tennessee "is fortunate to have such a well-qualified nominee" and that he would vote to confirm Stanton "if Majority Leader McConnell brings him to the floor for a vote."