Republicans have brought work on the U.S. Senate floor to a grinding crawl this afternoon to protest the delay of judicial nominees, including Raleigh lawyer Thomas A. Farr.

In a procedural roadblock, Senate Republicans are forcing the clerk to read aloud the bill being debated on the floor, which happens to be the massive climate change legislation. It runs nearly 500 pages.

While the clerk drones on, staffers are scrambling to come up with a deal that would allow hearings on a group of federal judicial nominees, reports Barb Barrett.

Farr was nominated Dec. 7, 2006 by President Bush for a seat in the Eastern District of the U.S. District Court. Farr is the longest-pending nominee without a hearing, according to Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s office.

Dole spoke on Farr’s behalf today in a closed-door policy meeting, then spent a 20-minute rotation on the Senate floor keeping the protest going.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole encourages her colleagues to confirm judicial nominees Thomas Farr and Robert Conrad on the floor of the Senate today.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr urged his colleagues to act on the nomination of Robert J. Conrad to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, spoke on the Senate floor this afternoon, Barb Barrett reports.

President Bush nominated Conrad to the post in July 2007, 300 days ago, according to Burr’s office. Conrad now is a federal judge for the western district of North Carolina.

"Bob Conrad is a capable and qualified nominee, and there is no reason why the Senate should continue to drag its feet on his confirmation," Burr said.

Burr's colleague, Sen. Elizabeth Dole, then called on the Senate to confirm Conrad and Thomas A. Farr.

"Bob Conrad is recognized as a judge and judicial scholar of the first order ... by the attorneys who've appeared before him and the judges with whom he works," she said.