The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking another run at the most controversial of President Obama's judicial nominees, holding a confirmation hearing this Wednesday on Goodwin Liu to serve on the Ninth Circuit.

Liu, a professor and associate dean at UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), has been nominated three times: Feb. 24, 2010, Sept. 13, 2010, with the nominations expiring with Senate recesses; and this Jan. 5. Ed Whelan has written extensively on Liu's shortcomings at National Review Online.

On the House side, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law holds what could be a very informative hearing Monday, "The Administrative Procedure Act at 65 - Is Reform Needed to Create Jobs, Promote Economic Growth and Reduce Costs?" Witnesses:

• Susan Dudley, Director, Regulatory Studies Center, The George Washington Institute of Public Policy. Dudley is the former head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Bush Administration.


• Jeffrey A. Rosen, Esq., Kirkland & Ellis LLP, one of the nation's top experts on federal preemption.


• Peter L. Strauss, Betts Professor of Law, Columbia Law School