Due to my name, I am debating on the side of David A. Yalof for his pro argument. Within his argument, he brings up some very important points that I had not thought about. As a result, I can safely say that my opinion on the matter has changed, the president does have too much power when it comes to appointing federal judges. David Yalof gets to his perspective by analyzing the historical reasoning for the president’s role in regard to nominating federal judges and the role of the senate during this process. While the points he brings up are all worthwhile, I will focus more so on how the present political environment within America has allowed for the president to have too much power.

The biggest issue I have with the current political environment that creates too much power is tied directly to the Senate. The obvious problem that comes up is the ability the Senate has to suspend filibuster and as Yalof points out, this shifts more power to the president. The senate also is facing a problem when it comes to the amount of influence the president has over their political party. For the most part, the president is able to dictate the actions of his party just based on the hyper partisanship that allows for individuals in office to be easily swayed from their true opinions. Evidence for this can be easily viewed when looking at the amount of support the president’s party has had for nominees, as the overall support rate was over 99%. This fact, coupled with the demise of the filibuster, has directly contributed to an environment where the president has too much power and it’s evident that the executive does not utilize the senate for advisory purposes anymore.