The Justice Department is understaffed. NPR reports that Republicans are refusing to confirm Sonia Sotomayor. Confirmation is a common courtesy the opposition plays to the president and one which the Democrats observed when Bush was in office. But it's not just Sotomayor who's getting this treatment. They have also been holding up confirmations for federal prosecutors and nominees for posts at DOJ. No federal prosecutor has been confirmed.
In other words, they've roadblocked the whole process of renewing the judiciary.
McClatchy has more on the anti-Sotomayor movement and its implications for 2010.
