The Senate on Monday confirmed the first Obama nominee for a federal judgeship in Texas, more than two years into the president’s term.
Diana Saldana has served since 2006 as a federal magistrate in Laredo. She had support from the state’s Republican senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison , and from Texas Democrats in the House.
The two sides have tussled for control of nominations since Barack Obama took office.
Apart from judicial vacancies, Obama has yet to fill any of four U.S. attorney posts in Texas. That has drawn complaints from the legal community and federal lawmakers in both parties.
The president nominated Saldana in July, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved her in December. After her nomination expired without a vote by the full Senate, he sent up her name again.
Two other judicial nominees are pending for Texas.
In January, Obama nominated Nelva Gonzales Ramos, a state district judge in Corpus Christi. Marina Marmolejo, a partner at an Austin law firm, was nominated in July to replace Samuel Kent of Houston, who resigned in June 2009 after being imprisoned and impeached for lying about sexually abusing two employees. Obama renominated her last month.
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