Long wait may soon end for appeals court nominee, Fed judge in Baltimore could get confirmed today

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WASHINGTON - It has been nine years since federal District Judge Andre M. Davis of Baltimore was first nominated to fill the so-called Maryland seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

It's been seven months since President Barack Obama renominated Davis for the same position - which has remained vacant because of the political stalemate in Washington since the death of Judge Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. in August 2000.

And it has been more than five months since the Senate Judiciary Committee, on a bipartisan vote, cleared Davis for confirmation by the full Senate. Again it was politics - delaying tactics by Senate Republicans, who are waging a relatively unnoticed, but largely successful, blocking campaign against Obama nominees - that forced Davis to wait some more.

Soon, however, the Baltimore native, having spent his 50s waiting for the promotion to come through, could finally be able to move up.

Senate debate on Davis' nomination is scheduled to begin today, with a confirmation vote expected later in the day. The timing could slip, but not the result: With the solid Democratic majority, his confirmation seems a foregone conclusion when senators finally get to vote.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bal-md.davis09nov09,0,4107299.story