Public Says President's Nominees Should Get A Yes/No Vote From Senate

Earlier this year, the Republicans promised to let the president's judicial and executive nominees get a confirmation vote. But they didn't keep that promise, and recently have blocked a vote on several of President Obama's nominees to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate Democrats finally took action this week, and initiated the so-called "nuclear option" (changing Senate rules to be able to stop a filibuster of judicial & executive nominees with only 51 votes).

The Republicans have been whining loudly since that change, and have tried to paint it as being unfair. But they brought this on themselves, by blocking the confirmation votes without just cause. And once again they find themselves in a position not supported by most in the general public. It turns out that 55% of the general public says those nominees deserve to have an up or down vote by the whole Senate, while only 23% agree with the GOP's position.

The chart above shows the result of a recent Rasmussen Poll (conducted on November 19th and 20th of 1,000 likely voters nationwide, with a 3 point margin of error).