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Goodwin Liu has had enough. On Wednesday, Liu, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, asked President Obama to withdraw his nomination for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Obama nominated Liu to fill a vacancy on the Ninth Circuit Court in February 2010, and Liu's been in debate limbo ever since. Last week, the Senate voted 52-43 to advance Liu's nomination to a vote, but they needed 60 votes to break through the GOP filibuster around him. Republicans have been arrayed against Liu since his nomination--they say he's an inexperienced left-winger who'd legislate from the bench. (He's gotten the endorsement of some conservatives, though, including Kenneth Starr and Clint Bolick.)
Last week's non-vote was the last straw for Liu, it seems. "With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon," he wrote yesterday in a letter to Obama, "my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future." Liu pointed out that the appeals court has a lot of cases to get through, and it didn't look like he'd be getting to a confirmation vote any time soon. He asked Obama to "withdraw my nomination from further consideration," adding that "the nomination has been a source of tremendous pride for my family and community."