President Obama is challenging what he calls Republican obstruction with the nomination of three judges at once. All three have been tapped to fill vacancies on the D.C. Court of Appeals, the nation’s second-most important court. The move could set off a showdown with congressional Republicans this summer. Obama said he was compelled to act in the face of unprecedented Republican opposition to his judicial nominees.

President Obama: “My nominees have taken three times longer to receive confirmation votes than those of my Republican predecessor. These individuals that I nominate are qualified. When they were given an up-or-down vote in the Senate — when they were finally given an up-or-down vote in the Senate, every one of them was confirmed. So this is not about principled opposition. This is about political obstruction.”