According to a report at HuffPo, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R--KY) plans to focus on pushing through federal judicial nominees made by President Donald Trump -- despite the fact that many have been called "not qualified."
With Trump clinging to power -- and with Republicans picking up two more seats in the Senate, giving them a 53-47 majority -- McConnell will use those extra votes to move on Trump's appointees with little fear of defections..
“We intend to keep confirming as many as we possibly can for as long as we’re in a position to do it,” HuffPo reports McConnell reporters after the November midterm election. “It will still be my top priority in setting the agenda here in the Senate. In the next Congress as well.”
The GOP has already placed 30 circuit judges, 53 district judges and two Supreme Court justices on the bench who were selected by Trump, HuffPo reports, with a legal expert stating what is to come should be concerning.
According to Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor and judicial nominations expert, Republicans may try to “nominate and confirm people who are even more conservative than the 30 circuit appointees,” before adding that they are "arguably less competent.”
The report states that there are three Trump appointees that deserve extra scrutiny.
"District court nominee Thomas Farr is the architect of North Carolina’s voter suppression law. District court nominee Matthew Kacsmaryk questioned the legality of state bans on 'conversion therapy' for LGBTQ kids. Circuit court nominee Eric Miller is fiercely opposed by Native American groups over his record of challenging tribal sovereignty and federal recognition of tribal existence," the HuffPo's Jennifer Bendery writes.
You can read more here.
