WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Monday narrowly confirmed one of President Barack Obama's nominees to be a federal judge in Maryland, overcoming opposition from some conservatives who felt nominee Paula Xinis was too tough on law enforcement in her career as a lawyer and assistant federal public defender.
Backed by her state's two Democratic senators, Xinis won support from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Forty-four of Obama's nominees to district courts and seven to the appeals court remain in limbo, as does the president's choice of Judge Merrick Garland for the vacancy created by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death in February.
