On Thursday, the Senate held more votes on President Donald Trump’s nominees to federal judgeships, with three new appointments marking a new threshold in his influence over the federal judiciary.
Trump has now appointed 25% of circuit court judges in the country. Recently, Trump has emphasized that milestone in D.C. and on the campaign trail.
On Wednesday, Republicans gathered in the White House so Trump could flaunt the “one in four” statistic.
“From the beginning of my campaign, I promised to appoint judges who will adhere to the true and original meaning of our Constitution,” he said, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was at the event. Grassley has previously boasted about this achievement. Last night, Grassley praised Trump for accomplishing what he promised voters he would during his 2016 campaign.
“You kept your word. And 20% of the people voted for you based on the proposition of the kind of people you were going to put on the Supreme Court,” he said.
[inline-ad id=”0″]
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Lee Philip Rudofsky, a district judge for Arkansas; Jennifer Philpott Wilson, a district judge for Pennsylvania; and William Joseph Nardini, a judge for the Second Circuit.
With these new confirmations, Trump has had 161 of his nominees to all federal courts get approved. Of those, 45 were appointed to national appeals courts.
Trump’s Judicial Victories
Also on Thursday, a controversial appointee who currently works as a direct legal aide to the White House, was approved by the Judiciary Committee along party lines. The next step will be a vote in the full Senate next week.
There are many concerns with his qualification to serve. The American Bar Association even ranked him “not qualified.”
But that isn’t new for Trump appointees, something Sen. Michael Lee of Utah mentioned before the Judiciary Committee vote.
“Not all of us view the ABA as a neutral arbiter,” Lee said. “It’s not. It’s an interest group with a distinct ideological bias.”
[inline-ad id=”1″]
He maintained that, despite the diverse ideological leanings of the members of the ABA, the group holds a left-leaning bias.
The ABA has a long-standing tradition of evaluating judicial nominations on a nonpartisan basis, and has defended itself against those charges.
Senate Obstruction
A major part of Trump’s success is the Republican-led Senate, with a majority leader who shares his ambition of appointing conservative judges to lifetime appointments.
Sen. Mitch McConnell was also at the White House celebration this week. In 2016, McConnell held the door open on a Supreme Court vacancy for Trump to fill with Neil Gorsuch.
But along with the Supreme Court seat, McConnell also blocked the Obama Administration’s ability to appoint nominees to the lower court, which led to the high number of vacancies available for Trump to fill.
“You had been helped enormously by a decision that I made — and these guys will back me up — not to let President Obama fill that Scalia vacancy on the way out the door,” McConnell said.
By Nikoel Hytrek
Posted 11/8/19
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Iowans and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at Iowa Starting Line has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Iowan families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
Iowa Republicans make outlawing gay marriage key 2024 campaign priority
Iowa Republicans have made outlawing gay marriage a key goal in their 2024 party platform. During the Iowa GOP’s 2024 state convention on Saturday,...
Department of Justice says Iowa immigration law violates US Constitution
If Iowa doesn’t suspend the enforcement of its new immigration law by May 7, the state could face a federal lawsuit, according to the Des Moines...
Rushing: Iowa State president said the quiet part out loud
I want to thank Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen for doing us all a favor by finally saying the quiet part out loud: all the...
Iowa sets aside almost $180 million for year two of voucher program
Iowa has committed nearly $180 million in taxpayer funds to support private school tuition in the 2024-25 school year, which is almost $50 million...
Kalbach: Immediate action needed on corporate ag pollution
Iowa agriculture has undergone substantial changes over the past 40 years. We see it all around us. Rather than crops and livestock being raised on...
VIDEO: Jochum calls Gov. Reynolds’ summer meal program a ‘hunger game’
Iowa Gov. Reynolds announced a competitive $900,000 grant program to feed Iowa children over the summer, months after she declined $29 million in...