Federal: Sen. Mitch McConnell Invokes the “Thurmond Rule”

Invoking what is known as the “Thurmond Rule,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that no votes would be allowed on nominees to the federal courts of appeals until after the November election. Nominees to the district courts will continue to be considered until at least early September. IAALS Board member Russell Wheeler, a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institute, recently wrote a paper on the history of the so-called Thurmond Rule and the extent to which it has been followed in the past.