Trump-appointed judges
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 1:30 am
now represent an astonishing one-sixth of the sitting, active federal appeals court judges in the country.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/66748358 ... lificationIn partnership with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Trump White House has secured lifetime appointments for 29 appeals court judges and 53 district court judges. That's not to mention two Supreme Court nominees...
The effort is so important to the Republican legal community and the party's voting base that lawmakers have been holding hearings for nominees while the Senate was in recess, aiming to confirm those candidates in the lame-duck session scheduled before the end of the year.
Critics call this an abuse of the system and point out that all the Trump picks for the appeals courts and the Supreme Court tend to have something in common: most of them are white men...
Also notable, said Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, is that the Republican-controlled Senate limited President Barack Obama to two circuit court judge confirmations and 22 district court nominations during his final two years in office.
Obama's choice for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, never got a hearing.