Free Republic

To the delight of conservatives and dismay of liberals, President Trump is doing more to reshape the American judiciary than any president in recent memory. It’s viewed as a “lasting legacy” that will ensure more “conservative” rulings — constitutionalist ones, actually — for perhaps decades to come. Unfortunately, a full understanding of the Constitution and leftists’ nature informs that this is an unfounded assumption. Illustrating the current transformation of the courts, The Daily Signal wrote last month that “‘[o]ne out of every 4 active judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals have been appointed by President Trump,’ says Adam Kennedy,...

Being proudly pro-life, we have all had our hearts broken countless times. Politician after politician pledges to protect the unborn. We work hard, we vote, and we elect them only to see those promises postponed until after the NEXT election. In 2016, a lot of us voted for President Trump solely on the promise of pro-life judges, half expecting the usual bait and switch. I am happy to say we ARE NOT waiting until after the next election. Promises made have been kept and will continue! Why do we care about judges? Some 47 years ago, the Supreme Court created...

President Donald Trump has ushered in the end of an era — no more will liberals dominate the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and use the federal appellate court as a rubber stamp for defeating pro-life legislation and pushing abortion on demand. Today the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lawrence VanDyke to serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. President Trump nominated VanDyke in September. He is a committed and strong 'constitutionalist' who will uphold the values and deeply held beliefs of our nation. VanDyke joins the ranks of over 150 judges confirmed to...

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed the 50th appeals court judge appointed by President Trump, helping to fulfill his promise to remake the federal bench with a conservative bent. Lawrence VanDyke, tapped for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, cleared the Senate by 51 - 44, making him the 50th judicial nominee appointed to a federal circuit court since the president took office in January of 2017. By comparison, President Obama appointed 55 federal circuit court judges in all of his eight years, putting Mr. Trump and Senate Republicans on a much more fast-tracked pace. Mr. Trump has also...

A San Diego federal prosecutor was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday to a seat on the influential 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 53-40 vote, Patrick Bumatay became the 49th circuit appointee to be confirmed under the Trump administration, part of a steady drive by Republicans to remake the federal bench with conservative jurists. It is an especially sweet victory for the administration given the 9th Circuit’s liberal lean, which has made it a prime spot for the president’s foes to challenge his policies. President Donald Trump has often complained about being treated unfairly by the nation’s largest...

The Senate confirmed four trial court nominees to the federal bench Wednesday, among them a public interest lawyer Democrats say will trim abortion rights. The package passed as the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from constitutional scholars pursuant to its impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Senators confirmed Sarah Pitlyk to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on a 49-44 vote that largely followed party lines. “Sarah’s strong legal experience, sharp intellect, and commitment to the rule of law make her an outstanding choice for the Eastern District,” GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said in...

The Second, Third and Eleventh circuits have all transitioned to a majority of Republican-appointed judges under Trump. The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm a second judge in as many days to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, flipping the court’s composition to a majority of Republican-appointees. The Senate voted 80-15 to confirm Florida state Supreme Court Justice Barbara Lagoa to the federal bench. Her vote comes one day after the Senate voted 64-31 to confirm fellow state Supreme Court Justice Robert J. Luck to the same court. This is the second circuit in as many weeks...

There are thirteen judges on the 2nd Circuit (encompasses New York, Connecticut, Vermont). There are currently six democrat appointees (3 Clinton, 3 Obama), six republican appointees (2 George W, 4 Trump) and one vacancy. Cloture was agreed to on Steven Menashi today! When he is confirmed, the 2nd Circuit will have flipped. And this ain't the south. This is the NEW YORK circuit.

President Donald Trump has appointed more judges in less than three years to the circuit courts than any of his two-term predecessors going back to Ronald Reagan. The Senate confirmed William Nardini, on Thursday, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, making 25% of circuit court judges Trump appointees. That was the president’s 45th pick, higher than the number of judges appointed by all presidents from Reagan to Obama, the Washington Examiner noted.

One of President Trump's nominees for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals broke down in tears during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, as he disputed suggestions that he would not be fair to members of the LGBTQ community. Lawrence VanDyke was the subject of a scathing letter from the American Bar Association, sent to committee leadership Tuesday night, which alleged that people they interviewed expressed this concern, and that VanDyke himself "would not say affirmatively that he would be fair to any litigant before him, notably members of the LGBTQ community." But conservatives have adamantly defended the nominee. And...

The Senate Judiciary Committee has shelved the consideration of a nominee for a key circuit judge position after an uprising of conservative opposition. The committee postponed its vote on Halil Suleyman “Sul” Ozerden to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals shortly after Sen Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) informed Republicans he was opposed. Hawley joined Sen. Ted Cruz in opposition. Hawley began informing colleagues of his decision on Thursday morning, just hours before Ozerden was going to be considered before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to source familiar with the conversations. With Cruz (R-Texas) and Hawley in opposition, Ozerden now needs Democratic...

An announcement from my legal guy, Zen Master, on the court/judge situation: Senate Hearings on Eugene Scalia for Labor Secretary will run about 30 hours and will bump back confirmation of two more judges this week. Scalia is a great choice. Now, here is the article "A Whole New Ballgame" https://empiricalscotus.com/2019/09/25/a-whole-new-ballgame/ It shows that not only is Trump moving faster than anyone else (MUCH faster than Zero) but that his nominees are MUCH more conservative, much more likely to be truly "diverse" as means coming from someplace other than Harvard or Yale (U AL, U GA, U Texas law schools,...

Joe Scarborough still occasionally claims to be a conservative. But based on his rant this morning, it sure sounds like Joe would prefer Supreme Court appointees in the mold of RBG/Sotomayor rather than Gorsuch/Kavanaugh.On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough fretted that if President Trump and Mitch McConnell are successful, they will "shape the judiciary for the next 50 years." Scarborough expressed his concern in the context of criticizing Joe Kennedy for launching a Dem primary campaign against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey in Massachusetts. Scarborough worried that money spent on that campaign will divert funds that could be used to defeat President...

The U.S. Senate confirmed President Trump’s 150th judicial nominee Wednesday, helping to fulfill the president’s campaign promise to remake the federal bench with a conservative bent. Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham called the number of confirmations a “historic milestone.” “These conservative judicial appointments will impact our nation for years to come,” the South Carolina Republican said. Six district court nominees won confirmation Wednesday, bringing the president’s total number of appointed judges to the lower federal courts to 105. Mr. Trump has also appointed 43 circuit court nominees and two Supreme Court justices since taking office. The pace has far outdone...

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed nine more of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees to the federal bench. The judicial confirmations come as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called for the Senate to confirm 19 judges before it leaves Washington for a monthlong recess at the end of this week. The latest package of nominees also signals the Republican-controlled Senate is now turning its attention to the confirmation of district judges, after initially focusing on filling circuit court vacancies.

Senate Cloakroom @SenateCloakroom 3h Vote Update: We expect a series of stacked votes starting at approximately 3:00pm. Vote order will be announced shortly. Confirmed by Voice Vote: Executive Calendar #48 Karin J. Immergut to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Oregon Confirmed by Voice Vote: Executive Calendar #55 John Milton Younge to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Confirmed by Voice Vote: Executive Calendar #351 Mary M. Rowland to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois Voting NOW: the Senate will proceed to 7 votes: 1. Confirmation of Executive Calendar #205...

When the Senate approved Daniel Bress to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco last week, the number ticked up to 127..... Trump is far ahead of recent presidents for appeals court confirmations, which an analyst calls the "big leagues" of the judiciary system. "There’s no question that President Trump has been 'incredibly effective at putting people on the appellate courts' — in fact, he’s gotten more than 'twice as many appeals court judges than most of the other presidents,” Mark Carl Rom, a Georgetown University government and public policy professor, told Roll Call. Trump has already...

This will be a weekly post. Count remains at 123 judges confirmed. 80 District Court judges 41 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices The Senate was working on legislation this week, but it also teed up cloture votes on several judicial nominees, including Daniel Bress for the 9th Circuit. If Bress is confirmed, there will be an even dozen republican nominees on the 9th circuit (out of 29), with one more vacancy yet to be filled. Soon, the activist district judges' left wing decisions blocking the wall being built (such as the one last night) will run into the...

Today the Senate confirmed 4 more @RealDonaldTrump judges, bringing the total to 112! These Judges serve as the last line of defense for the rule of law around the country 🇺🇸 #PromisesMadePromisesKept

Senate Republicans deployed the “nuclear option” on Wednesday to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to confirm hundreds of President Trump’s nominees. Senators voted 51-48 to change the rules for the amount of time it takes to confirm most executive nominations with only a simple majority of the chamber. GOP Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Susan Collins (Maine) joined with Democrats in opposing the rules change. Republicans are expected to trigger the “nuclear option” for a second time later Wednesday to force through the same change for district court nominations. The combined actions will result in most nominations...