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WASHINGTON — Democrats on Tuesday crushed a Senate filibuster against a controversial appeals-court nominee.
The 70-29 vote limited debate over the qualifications of U.S. District Judge David Hamilton of Indiana and assured his elevation to the Chicago-based appeals court. Sixty votes were needed to end the filibuster, but confirmation only requires a simple majority of the 100-member Senate.
The vote emphatically warned Republicans that with only 40 senators, they’re too outnumbered to prevent President Barack Obama from making major inroads into a judiciary that was populated with conservative judges chosen by President George W. Bush.
