Get those federal judges confirmed

The re-election of President Barack Obama should be good news for two Oklahoma men who have waited a long time to be confirmed to federal benches.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Bacharach of Oklahoma City was nominated by Obama in January to a post on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Tulsa attorney John Dowell is in line for a federal judgeship in Tulsa.

Both men sailed through confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but their nominations got high-centered this summer by political gamesmanship.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, who refused to buck his party when an opportunity arose in July to move Bacharach’s nomination forward, says both judges should now “fly through” the Senate. We hope so. The 10th Circuit seat has been vacant more than two years.

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