White House nominations to 9th Circuit set off firestorm
White House nominations to 9th Circuit set off firestorm
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/white-house-nominations-to-9th-circuit-set-off-firestorm/ar-BBOjDsQ
While President Donald Trump has had unprecedented success in reshaping the judiciary by placing two justices on the Supreme Court and a record breaking 29 judges on federal appeals courts, he believes he has been stymied by what he considers the liberal bent of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. It's a powerful court headquartered in San Francisco that has jurisdiction over nine West Coast states and two territories.
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"The decision to move forward with these nominees without consultation," she said "reflects President Trump's desire to remake the court."
"I was acting in good faith," she said and added that she hoped her "blue slips" would be honored.
She referred to the Senate's longtime custom of honoring a home state senator's objection to a nominee by submitting a "blue slip" to torpedo the nomination.
But Grassley said in a statement last November that the blue slip courtesy had been treated differently throughout the years and he did not feel a "negative or unreturned" blue slip would necessarily prevent a hearing for an appeals court nominee unless the White House failed to consult with home state senators.
That is the reason, in his letter, that McGahn stressed his attempts at meeting with the home state senators.
"While Grassley has moved forward several circuit court nominees without their home state senator's blue slips, doing so to the ranking member of the committee would be a dramatic escalation and slap in the face," said Christopher Kang, chief counsel of a group called Demand Justice that opposes the President's nominees.
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"The timing of these nominations is curious given the potential churn in the Senate and the Judiciary Committee in particular," Kang said.
But the message is clear: The White House wants to flip the court.
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