As a second Trump administration approaches, we’re running out of time to confirm as many federal judges as possible to provide a check on his presidential power and curb his stated policy priorities.
There are 42 federal judicial vacancies and 13 nominations before the Senate right now—as our civil rights hang in the balance, take action now!
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nominations of John K. Bush to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and Damien Schiff to the Court of Federal Claims, on a party-line vote. These two nominees have deeply problematic records, replete with troubling legal positions and intemperate statements, which demonstrate that they are unfit to serve as federal judges. At the Committee’s executive business meeting, Democratic senators pointed to numerous elements of the nominees’ records that call into serious question whether, if confirmed, they could fairly adjudicate the legal disputes that come before their respective courts. Their nominations could be sent to the full Senate for a confirmation vote as soon as next week.
In addition, the Committee approved the nomination of Kevin Newsom to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Although Newsom’s nomination received bipartisan support, Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein highlighted the fact that the Alabama senators had blocked the nomination of District Court Judge Abdul Kallon to this same seat during the Obama Administration, preventing this important seat from being filled earlier.
