The U.S. Senate once again filibustered a Obama judicial nominee Tuesday, this time blocking the nomination of Georgetown University law professor Cornelia T. L. Pilliard for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This is the third Obama nominee the Senate has blocked in two weeks, this time by a 56-41 vote. 

The failure to move judicial nominees forward comes as a result of the GOP's desire to stop the Obama administration from making any additional appointments to the appeals court, which is considered to be the second most powerful court in the nation behind the U.S. Supreme Court.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said today's move was especially unfortunate considering the fact that the chamber has only confirmed one woman to the court in the last 19 years.

“Support for Professor Pillard’s nomination is bipartisan, at least outside the United States Senate,” Reid said, according to the New York Times. “Yet Senate Republicans seem poised to block confirmation of this eminently qualified woman for a blatantly political reason — to deny President Obama his constitutional right to appoint judges.”