WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked President Barack Obama's nominee for a judgeship on a key U.S. appeals court, saying her views on gun rights and national security disqualify her.

 

Democrats fell six votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a Republican procedural roadblock against Caitlin Halligan, a former chief appellate lawyer for New York state.

Halligan would fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that was left open six years ago when John Roberts became U.S. Supreme Court chief justice.