ABSTRACT
The institutional setting and the partisan interests that are mapped onto it together constitute the context within which a president must work to secure successful confirmation of his or her judicial candidates for office. This chapter focuses on the institutional context and political climate in which those candidates are assessed. It explores how a president should understand and navigate these in order to reduce "political uncertainty" as to the confirmation prospects of putative appointees. Strategic action is about understanding the institutional setting in which decision making occurs. Key to a president's strategic calculation is awareness of what might be called Senate "veto points". Retaining or reserving judicial vacancies for an incoming president who is hopefully going to be a fellow partisan is a senator's job. And it necessitates utilizing senatorial obstruction tactics against a current chief executive's judicial staffing efforts.
