President Obama today nominated a federal judge, a university law professor and an appeals court attorney to fill three vacancies on the 11-seat U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka applauded the nominations and urged the U.S. Senate “to move expeditiously to confirm these nominees.” In a statement, he said:

The D.C. Circuit is extremely important to working families. The court hears more significant labor-related cases—workplace safety cases, wage and hour cases, unfair labor practice cases and other regulatory cases—than any other Circuit Court of Appeals.

If the Senate Republican minority continues to use Senate rules to roadblock virtually every one of President Obama’s key nominees to vital government agencies, it’s time for Senate Democrats to use majority muscle to change the Senate’s rules, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen said today.

A minority of U.S. senators has blocked more nominations to federal judgeships by President Obama than any other president—even though each of the 155 nominees has been rated as highly qualified or qualified by the American Bar Association (ABA).