Obama prods Republicans with picks for appeals panel

In what many consider the second-highest court in the land because its caseload is typically filled with constitutional cases and cases regarding federal agencies, the filling of three vacant seats may be the latest display of partisan dysfunction. In an unusually public speech at the Rose Garden today (nominees are usually announced via press release) the president called on Republicans to cease their “political obstruction” while members of the GOP accused the president of court packing.