{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=5bd897d7-8130-4986-8570-5fa693d3b290", "Merkley: “This Obstruction Is Outrageous”", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Jeff Merkley", "M001176", "www.merkley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Merkley: \u201cThis Obstruction Is Outrageous\u201d  \n\t\n\t\n\tWednesday, November 13, 2013\n\t\n\tWASHINGTON \u2013 Oregon\u2019s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after a minority of Senators filibustered the nomination of Cornelia Pillard to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In recent weeks, the Republican minority has also filibustered the nominations of Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Patricia Millett to sit on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.\u00a0\r\n \r\n\u201cThree times in as many weeks, a minority of Senators has blocked a well-qualified nominee by abusing the Senate rules. This obstruction is outrageous. In baseball, it\u2019s three strikes and you\u2019re out. Republicans have struck out when it comes to keeping their promises on nominees. In January the Minority Leader promised to return to the \u2018norms and traditions\u2019 of the U.S. Senate on nominations, which is to hold an up and down vote with rare exceptions.\u00a0 Given that shattered promise, a majority of Senators must change the rules to restore the Senate to its historic role.\u201d\r\n \r\n\r\n###\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n     \n\t\n \n\t\n    \n    \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t  \n    \n\t\n\t\n\t  \n          \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=5bd897d7-8130-4986-8570-5fa693d3b290"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7353130970150232, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}