The Washington Post The push to win approval for Sri Srinivasan, the principal deputy solicitor general, has taken on greater urgency because Obama was forced late last month to withdraw his initial nominee to fill one of the court's vacancies, New York City prosecutor Caitlin Halligan, in the face of a Republican filibuster. Giving liberals a greater say on the D.C. Circuit is important for Obama as he looks for ways to circumvent the Republican-led House and a polarized Senate on a number of policy fronts through executive order and other administrative procedures. The D.C. Circuit, with four Republican and three Democratic appointees, has four vacancies. It proved an obstacle for Obama during his first term - blocking proposed rules, for instance, to curb interstate air pollution and enhance cigarette labeling. The court also has put on hold dozens of cases relating to rules on workers" rights, and it has challenged the president's authority to name recess appointees. In recent days, Obama has intervened in the push for Srinivasan, said a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the confirmation process is not complete. The president has used meetings with Republican and Democratic senators to make a case for swift confirmation, the official said. The president mentioned the issue of judicial nominations during a recent Google Plus video chat, and the White House has spread the message online about the D.C. Circuit's vacancies. One case the White House is making privately is that Srinivasan, who worked in President George W. Bush's solicitor general's office for five years before returning there under Obama in 2011, holds bipartisan appeal. Underscoring that point, 12 former solicitors general and principal deputy solicitors general - six Democrats and six Republicans - issued a letter Monday urging the nominee's confirmation. "There are few things more vital on the president's second-term agenda," said Constitutional Accountability Center President Doug Kendall, who co-wrote an upcoming Environmental Law Forum article on the subject with his group's senior counsel, Simon Lazarus. With legislative priorities gridlocked in Congress, the president's best hope for advancing his agenda is through executive action, and that runs through the D.C. Circuit. Born in India and raised in Lawrence, Kan., Srinivasan, 46, has the backing of the country's South Asian community, which voted overwhelmingly for Obama but has been an increasingly important donor base for both parties. Activist groups have mobilized to boost the White House campaign, with one organization, the Indian American Leadership Initiative, reaching out to Indian Americans in key states whose senators sit on the Judiciary Committee and lining up help from GOP donors.