Oklahoma Prosecutor's Appointment To Judgeship Blocked

An Oklahoma prosecutor's nomination to be a federal court judge has been blocked.

The Oklahoman reports the U.S. Senate sent assistant U.S. Attorney Arvo Mikkanen's nomination back to the White House on Saturday. Mikkanen never received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

President Barack Obama nominated him in February to the open district court judgeship in Oklahoma's Northern District in Tulsa.

But Republican Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe opposed the nomination, saying they weren't consulted before he was chosen.

Had Mikkanen's nomination been approved, he would be one of only three American Indians ever to serve as a federal district judge. Mikkanen is an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and is also of Comanche and Finnish descent, according to the Oklahoma Indian Bar Association website.

A telephone listing couldn't be located for Mikkanen. Spokesmen for Coburn and Inhofe didn't immediately return telephone messages seeking comment on Sunday.