Trump Announces Judicial Nominees; December 23, 2019

[mahatmakanejeeves]

They're not letting their time go to waste.

Nominations & Appointments

President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees

Issued on: December 23, 2019

Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate:

John Leonard Badalamenti of Florida, to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

John Badalamenti currently serves as a District Judge on the Florida Second District Court of Appeal. Before taking the bench in 2015, Judge Badalamenti served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Middle District of Florida, where he argued cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Before joining the Public Defender’s office, Judge Badalamenti was an associate at Carlton Fields, P.A., and an Attorney Advisor for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Judge Badalamenti also served as a law clerk to Frank Mays Hull and Paul H. Roney of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Judge Badalamenti earned his B.A., with highest honors, and his M.A. from the University of Florida, and his J.D., with honors, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Stephen P. McGlynn of Illinois, to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

Stephen McGlynn currently serves as Circuit Judge on the Illinois Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court and previously served as a Justice on the Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court. Earlier in his career, Judge McGlynn was in private practice at McGlynn & McGlynn, Attorneys at Law. He has also served as a Special Assistant Attorney General of Illinois. Judge McGlynn earned his B.A. from the University of Dayton and his J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law.

[Igel]

1. He's moving focus to the district courts.

Now, the (modified) blue-slip process for appellate courts requires floor time before a vote. Blue-slips as vetoes for appellate courts positions were a recent thing when they were discontinued. This gets blurred and mixed in with district-court practice when it's helpful. When it was innovated, it was a way of blocking nominees in a discrete way--no committee vote, no Senate vote, no ability to claim that it's a partisan thing.

For district courts blue slips are still in place as vetoes, which is long-standing Senate practice. Which explains why https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_judicial_appointment_controversies#List_of_failed,_stalled_or_filibustered_district_court_nominees includes something like 14 district court nominations/appointments by Trump that were first nominated by Obama. Some as the result of negotiation with the local senators, some not so much.

At the district court level we still see the battle of the emergencies. "It's a judicial emergency, somebody needs to be appointed!" And after that it's either "Yes, so stop blocking who I want to nominate and do your job" or "So nominate somebody I won't block, do your job." At least Obama at times found somebody he could negotiate with in order find a potential nominee both sides could agree on, even if it required that both sides hold their noses in order to do their jobs.