Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah

Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen would be, if confirmed, the only judge from Southern Utah on the federal district court.

Background

The daughter of former Republican State Representative Kay McIff and a Southern Utah native, Ann Marie McIff Allen received a B.A. from Brigham Young University in 1994 and a J.D. from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1997. Allen then went into private practice until 2007 when she became Deputy County Attorney for the Iron County Attorney’s Office. In 2013, she returned to private practice as a solo practitioner, although she also worked with Southern Utah University as Special Counsel and then General Counsel.

In 2020, Allen was appointed to be a judge on Utah’s Fifth District Court, where she has served since.

History of the Seat

Allen has been nominated for a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah to replace Judge David Nuffer, who took senior status on April 2, 2022. Allen was recommended for the vacancy by Sen. Mitt Romney.

Legal Experience

Allen worked in private practice at a number of different firms between 1997 and 2007 and then again between 2013 and 2020, focusing on civil practice. Between 2007 and 2013, by contrast, Allen worked for the Iron County Attorney’s Office, working both as a prosecutor and a public defender (County Attorneys in Utah have broad roles, including serving as a legal advisor, prosecution, and indigent defense).

Between 2017 and 2020, Allen worked as Counsel for Southern Utah University, where she served as a legal advisor to the University on Title IX compliance and other issues.

Jurisprudence

Allen has served as a judge on the Fifth District Court in Southern Utah since Governor Gary Herbert appointed her to the court in 2020. In Utah, District Courts are trial courts of general jurisdiction, which preside over all civil cases and all criminal felonies.

Among the notable cases Allen handled as a judge, Allen presided over a jury trial that found Darcy Anderson to be guilty of three felony counts relating to the sexual abuse of a ten year old victim. See Jeff Richards, Jury Finds Parowan Man Guilty of Sexually Abusing 10-Year-Old Girl in His Home, St. George News, Feb. 25, 2022, https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2022/02/25/jmr-jury-finds-parowan-man-guilty-of-sexually-abusing-10-year-old-girl-in-his-home/. Allen also found Jacob Schmidt, accused of running another man over with a car, to be competent to stand trial. See Jeff Richards, Cedar City Man Accused of Murder in Fatal Hit-and-Run Found Competent to Stand Trial, St. George News, Feb. 24, 2021, https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2021/02/24/jmr-cedar-city-man-accused-of-murder-in-fatal-hit-and-run-found-competent-to-stand-trial/.

Additionally, Allen was one of a group of judges who was sued in federal court by defendants who were challenging the bails set in their cases. See Medina v. Allen, Case No. 4:21-cv-00102-DN-PK (D. Utah Mar. 30, 2023); see also Jessica Miller, Lawsuit Challenges Utah’s Cash-Based Bail System, The Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 4, 2021, https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/10/04/these-utahns-are-too-poor/. The suit was dismissed by Nuffer. See id.

Overall Assessment

The District of Utah has a Salt Lake City focused bench, with the lone Southern Utah judge, Nuffer, having moved there in 2018 when the court opened a new division in Southern Utah. Allen, by contrast, has deep ties to Southern Utah, which would serve her well in building the legal community around the new division.

As for her background, Allen may draw questions about the lawsuit challenging her bail decisions, given that it was supported by a number of progressive organizations, but is nonetheless favored to be confirmed.

300 Comments

  1. Dequan's avatar

    While progressives sued her over her bail decisions, Allen was probably the best we could hope for from Utah with blue slips still in play. Senator Lee has known her since law school so I’m sure that put her over the top with him. Her background as a public defender was probably enough for The White House to sign off. Hopefully she can get a voice vote.

    Like

  2. tsb1991's avatar

    I saw the news on Cantwell, so maybe we’ll see today if the cloture motions get withdrawn since I’m sure Republicans will have 100% attendance this week as they’re famously immune to contracting COVID during surges. If she’s the only absence for Democrats and the cloture motions get withdrawn then we know Manchin isn’t supporting either nominee.

    While there is the possibility some cloture motions get sent to the desk today, there won’t be anything exciting on that front due to every judicial nominee aside from Kazen, Crews, and Mehalchick needing to be re-nominated by the President. Any cloture motions filed today or tomorrow will be on the few nominees that weren’t returned to the President. Again, not exciting but if it happens at least the Senate is doing something.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ryan J's avatar

      I’m interested in seeing what seat the Texas nominees get nominated to. I would guess one gets nominated to Philip Martinez’s seat and maybe the other gets Frank Montalvo’s seat. Possibly Lee Yeakel’s seat if one of them will serve in Austin.

      Which seats they get nominated to are good indicators of where the new judge will take chambers.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. keystone's avatar

    I could see Colom getting renominated bc it’s a visible reminded of Republicans being kind of unreasonable.

    I could see him being withdrawn if the MS Senators have agreed to support another nom, if Colom no long wants the role, or if the admin knows that Graves is gearing up to go senior.

    For Holland, I have a feeling there’s something wrong with her ABA rating. If she’s withdrawn, I wouldn’t be surprised if the new nom is a POC since WDNY has new never had a nonwhite judge.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Mitch's avatar

    Judge McAllen was chosen in part because of her roots in southern Utah, and Democrats are hard to find in that part of the country. Also, the White House wanted to curry favor with Mitt Romney.

    She seems to be apolitical and not ideological. I expect that she’ll get a voice vote.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Gavi's avatar

    General comment in response to a few opinions I read on here.

    @Mitch
    The nomination of Allen seems to be a standard one for a president of one party and senators of another party. There’s no curry favor here, no more than there’s curry favor anywhere else when home state senators make recommendations. What would the WH get in return, more Romney votes in favor of its judicial nominees? Not happening. Chad Meredith was a curry favor. This is just conventional.

    @Dequan
    Sen. Lee will likely return a blue slip for Allen, but I don’t think it’s because they went to law school together. During the Obama Admin, I remember Cruz, on at least one occasion, telling one of his former classmates that he still won’t support him for a judgeship. Though I won’t deny that Cruz might be a special kind of jerk.

    @Joe (if I remember correctly)
    Re: The new SDNY vacancy
    I agree that the seat will likely be filled by the end of the year, but I don’t share your full confidence that it’ll be with a solid nominee.
    1: We don’t know who will be making this recommendation. It could very well not be Schumer’s. Remember that he and Gillibrand have a ratio (4:1) agreement, not a geographical one. So if it’s her turn, she could be the one to recommend someone to the WH for this vacancy, and we all know her track record and that Schumer doesn’t veto her choices. Also, remember that there are now 3 New York vacancies, so the chances are very strong that Gillibrand will get at least one of those, we just don’t know which one yet.
    2: Schumer has his own lackluster picks as well, like Margaret Garnett.
    Thank goodness for Ron Klain’s recommendation of Dale Ho.
    Regardless of whose turn it is, would it be too much to hope for another unexpectedly good Dale Ho type? Or are those days long gone?

    Re: Thurmond Rule
    Just to reiterate the others, this is not a rule. Not even a real custom. This is merely an excuse that the Republican majority sometimes have used to not confirm nominees of a Dem president.
    And it’s not even consistently applied. Despite confirming very few of Obama’s judges after retaking the senate the last 2 years of his presidency, Republicans confirmed a few of his judicial nominees less than 6 months before the 2016 election, one for a blue state. Bush, Jr. had a whole lot more within 6 months of November 2008, many by voice vote. Ditto for Bill Clinton. There’s no reason to think this fake rule will be operational in a Dem senate for a Dem president.
    That doesn’t mean that there’ll be breathless confirmations, though. Because Schumer will still control the calendar and we know how much he sucks at it.

    Liked by 3 people

      • keystone's avatar

        Am I remembering it correctly, that there was a point towards the end of the Trump presidency where Democrats refused to issue any new blue slips for candidates?

        I think that’s more in line with how the rule might play out this year and might also be why the WH has been so aggressive in terms of collecting Red state candidates recently.

        Also, do we think we’ll get a new batch of noms this week?

        Liked by 2 people

      • Gavi's avatar

        @Keystone,
        That was specifically in response to Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the RBG SCOTUS vacancy and senate Republicans hypocrisy in filling election year vacancies. Without this, we would have had a few more Trump district court judges in New York.

        Liked by 3 people

      • Joe's avatar

        Keystone, I would expect another new batch on Wednesday.

        Hopefully it’s some more red state nominees for the reasons others have listed. South Dakota is a possibility. Also NC and Wisconsin has supposedly sent names as well.

        In my opinion we have more time to fill the blue seat vacancies and no blue slips to slow them down.

        Liked by 3 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      @Gavi

      Terd Cruz is definitely a special kind of jerk… Lol

      As for the SDNY vacancy, as you correctly pointed out, it was Ron Klain that recommended Dale Ho. My problem with worrying about if Schumer or Gillibrand will be making the pick for the vacancies is that would be conceding that Schumer could make a bad pick. Remember Schumer picked one of the two Jennifers & two Latinos in their mid 50’s. Senator Gillibrand actually recommended A+ nominee Natasha Merle so she’s not allergic to making a great pick. I think we are more likely to get an average or perhaps good pick, but I unfortunately believe the days of Dale Ho are over for the rest of this year out of New York. I would love to be wrong though.

      Thurmond Rule – As you correctly stated this only exist when the senate majority is different from the president. Even more so when the senate majority is Republican & president is a Democrat.

      @Keystone

      I would expect another batch this week. As I said last week, there was no need to announce another batch then because due to the recess in a month, it wouldn’t matter if the next batch was announced last week or this week, the hearing would be the same week. But if they don’t announce this week then there would be a missed hearing slot in a month.

      I think the bigger question is who will be in the next batch. My guess is the vetting process is probably complete for a number of recommendations. It would be smart for the White House to announce all red & purple state nominees first so I could see another batch with a mix of those this week. My best guess would be Wisconsin, South Dakota (1 or both seats) & maybe some combination of North Carolina & Texas.

      Liked by 1 person

    • tsb1991's avatar

      I believe there’s an article out there saying Allen does have both Lee and Romney’s support, outside of very early on in Biden’s presidency his purple/red state nominees have come with support from those state’s Republican Senator(s).

      Also, one other note for the Thurmond rule, I believe it sorta applied to Obama in 2012 even with a Democratic Senate since the filibuster for nominations was still in place, he didn’t have any appeals court judges confirmed after June of 2012 for the rest of his first term. IIRC I think Kayatta on the First Circuit was blocked by Republicans in 2012 as they had their “You can’t confirm judges in election years unless you have a Republican President and Senate” rule in place, but was confirmed easily in 2013. There were some district court judges confirmed in September but not a whole lot were confirmed from June onward (he had a ton of them confirmed during the lame duck in December, most likely as he had won re-election and would start his second term off with a Democratic Senate, so the Thurmond Rule was kind of moot at that point).

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Ethan's avatar

    I’m definitely expecting more red state nominees soon. I definitely expect we’ll get Eric Schulte for the Sioux Falls seat in South Dakota. The Rapid City seat is a whole other story. AUSA Sarah Collins (a Native American) wasn’t advanced by the White House while Tracey Zephier (another Native American) withdrew. One name I’d watch is state Judge Heidi Linngren. She reminds me a lot of Bazis from Nebraska. She’s a former public defender whose donations have been to a Republican ($300 total to South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley).

    Liked by 2 people

  7. keystone's avatar

    Red states noms would be appreciated, but I wouldn’t mind getting a few more blue state ones in the works.

    Would love to see a EDMI nom bc I have a feeling that Mark Goldsmith might announce senior status once the current opening gets sorted out.

    California has a bunch of openings that have been lingering for a while, in addition to one of the SDNY spots. Would be great to start chipping away at those.

    I feel like we should be getting close to having noms for the Rhode Island and WDVA.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. keystone's avatar

    There’s something weird with Austin. I noticed on the us courts page, they cleared out everyone who needs to be renominated. The only nominee names still listed there are Kato Crews, John Kazen, Karoline Mehalchick, and Jacqueline Austin. I assumed I missed something and she somehow got moved over. IDK.

    https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-vacancies/current-judicial-vacancies

    I assume there will be another batch coming bc the US Attorneys that Vance was blocking also aren’t there – April Perry (NDIL) and Rebecca Lutzko (NDOH).

    Liked by 1 person

  11. tsb1991's avatar

    Schumer had a quick wrap-up today. Was about to say that the only confirmed vote for tomorrow appeared to be the Kazen confirmation (his cloture vote was 73-15 btw), but the Senate Cloakroom feed mentioned there’s a cloture vote for that Labor nominee whose vote failed a few months back. Maybe Democrats think they’ll have an attendance advantage tomorrow even with Cantwell out? No further votes have been mentioned, nor is there a “further votes possible” disclaimer from the other Senate feeds I follow (Periodicals and Press Gallery).

    When I said the wrap-up was quick, nothing was filed or withdrawn, so the cloture motions for Mehalchick and Crews are still on the books for now.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. star0garnet's avatar

    The senate returned 110 nominations; this batch resubmits 43 of them and makes four new ones. In 2022, 123 nominations were returned; they were resubmitted in batches of 21 on 1/3 and 93 on 1/4, with only seven nominations effectively dropped. There will be another batch.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. Mitch's avatar

    The Senators from Kansas, both Republicans, made a major concession by supporting Richard Federico for the Tenth Circuit. I think that the White House will make a concession on the District Court vacancy for Kansas. Its first choice is likely state judge Jacy Hurst, but I don’t think the Senators would approve.

    Lawrence lawyer Terrance Campbell could emerge. He’s a moderate Republican who was nominated in 2016, but got caught up in the Senate blockade that year.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      OMG… I’m not even halfway through Mangi’s questionnaire & already am dizzy. My God, they can’t touch him so they only have questions about the Center he served on the board for & would he is qualifying potential future law clerks for this & that. Schumer please don’t be foolish & set up him & Berner for votes by the end of February.

      Like

  19. Gavi's avatar

    Thanks, Ben!

    We all were off last week when I asked us to guess who we thought would be the first circuit court vacancy of 2024. Now we know.

    Don’t get too excited, though:
    1: It’s an election year
    2: It’s for an NC seat
    3: NC has lower court vacancies that the WH will more likely want to include in a package, meaning Wynn’s replacement may look more like Irma Ramirez than Rachel Bloomekatz.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Joe's avatar

      Wouldn’t fewer district vacancies make a deal less likely? The WH doesn’t necessarily have to negotiate to fill those multiple seats like they do in Texas for instance.

      I do expect Biden/WH to seek input from the NC senators, though, like they have from every red state. Thankfully though, they aren’t limited by blue slips so they have a good deal of leverage.

      Liked by 1 person

  20. aangren's avatar

    Honestly at this point it is what it is i am just waiting for this pathetic administration to be over and done with and get this charade over. its criminal that gaston and bjelkengren werent renominated despite approval from the senate judiciary committee because of biden cowardice and republicans will get mad at him, when gop is in power that confirm every far right bigot and charlatan like kasmarcyk and oldham on the 5th to circuit courts. I dont even bother to look at his nominations anymore. Polls have consistently shown him losing to trump in all swing states, he is not even winning michigan, he is about to cut a bigoted far right deal that gives republicans every single thing they want on immigration policy, possibly about to fire his black secdef and now this. I cant wait for the election. i am actually looking forward to it,i truly hope this man is looked down worse than jimmy carter in the long run. The running theme of his administration has been cowardice and bending over for republicans. what an absolute joke that a stellar nominee and public like gaston wasnt renominated, simply because the president is too scared of what charlatans like ted cruz will say. it genuinely buggs me. I will be posting this every month till the election, when trump is announced winner on election night no one have outrage, the man has ignored his base as the plea for mercy on gaza, and the one good thing he was doing with nominations he has stopped it.
    Incoming another mediocre white man who is a prosecutor in place of gaston and bjelkengren, while trump approved fed society goons after goons and senate rubber stamped it.I get it is heresy to criticize biden on here but you guys cant hide from it any longer. When he gets blown out in the election it would be rightfully so

    Like

    • Joe's avatar

      Personally I want Biden and Senate Dems to win in November so that the judiciary can continue to be filled by center left and liberal judges. The alternative doesn’t really get us anywhere and would almost certainly be much worse.

      Just looking at the Biden Circuit nominations I see at least 5/7 really strong picks, and even with Kolar and Ramirez I see upside.

      de Alba – solidly liberal judge, party line confirmation.

      Ramirez – been discussed at length here.

      Federico – Former Public Defender.

      Kolar – Likely center left judge but very much TBD. Also replacing a very right wing judge so certainly a win.

      Aframe – Former Elections lawyer, Civil Rights liaison, and white collar prosecutor.

      Berner – Labor lawyer, LGBT, Planned Parenthood, etc.

      Mangi – Mostly corporate, but clearly a very liberal attorney based on his pro bono work.

      I understand that not every nominee is perfect, but the judiciary is a very long game and a lot of it is about raw numbers, not necessarily nominating exclusively superstars, so that Americans get equal access to justice. Just my two cents on the matter.

      Liked by 3 people

  21. Gavi's avatar

    @Joe
    There’s only 1 vacancy, but I don’t think Biden’s team will ever pass up on a chance to negotiate away their strongest hand, so I fully expect them to try to use the circuit court vacancy to entice the NC senators to also agree to a district court nominee. If the WH doesn’t try to fill the WDNC vacancy, they’d be in a stronger position to force the senators to the table.

    @aagren
    Again, everyone needs to claim down about the renomination list. For whatever reason, the Biden WH does it in multiple parts as opposed to a single list. I don’t understand this logic but that’s how they do it. In fact, they didn’t have to wait until yesterday to resubmit those nominees. They could have done it the same day last week that the senate sent back the nominations.
    This WH seems to do things strangely, which only sets people on edge, like only sending a nomination after an elevated judge is confirmed.
    I’m not worried about the renomination of anyone not named Colom.

    Liked by 2 people

      • keystone's avatar

        There are also a bunch of NC judges who are either currently or are about to be eligible for Senior Status.

        MDNC
        – 4 person court
        – Currently no openings but…..
        – Schroeder (eligible May 2024)
        – Biggs (eligible Dec 2024)
        – Eagles (eligible Dec 2024)

        WDNC
        – 5 person court
        – Currently 2 vacancies/pending (Conrad and Cogburn)
        – Whitney (eligible Oct 2024)

        EDNC
        -4 person
        – 0 openings
        – Boyle is eligible but he was appointed by by Reagan and was previously a legislative aide to Jesse Helms so if he didn’t go senior under Trump, he’s not going anywhere.

        Liked by 2 people

      • Joe's avatar

        Good catch. For some reason I thought there was only one, too.

        I do know that the NC senators have been weighing names for some time, so hopefully that process is far enough along. Perhaps an additional circuit court vacancies can unjam the situation.

        Liked by 2 people

    • keystone's avatar

      @Gavi

      Agreed regarding the renom list. Bjelkengren, Gaston, and Edelman are the three judges that seem to really set off the hysterics and dramatics with the Judiciary Republicans. I wonder if the WH decided to put a pin in those 3 since they are so triggering in order to help ensure a smoother meeting to get the other 20+ judges back into the queue and they’ll maybe revisit those other 3 after that’s done.

      Like

    • Dequan's avatar

      @Gavi

      WOW…. After you being one of the bloggers on here I agreed with the most, the last month or two not so much so. But the past few days we seem to be fully aligned once again. I was about to correct you about NC having two vacancies not one but I see in your next post you corrected it so I 100% agree with what you wrote.

      Again, there will DEFINITELY be another batch of nominees sent to the senate. How do I know that? Because the Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah & two Texas nominees from last month has not been sent to the senate yet. Everybody needs to RELAX (Aaron Rogers voice). As @Gavi said this administration sends the renominations in more than one batch. I don’t agree with it but that’s how they operate. There will be another batch sent… Woosssah

      @aagren

      Biden was behind in the Democrat primary in 2020 much worst than he’s behind Trump on the same day in 2024. Polls will be polls. The truth of the matter is this blog is not representative of America when speaking about engagement into the election & judiciary. So let’s at least have one primary vote cast, the coin flip to start the Super Bowl or the season premiere for Yellowstone before we worry too much about the polls for the November election.

      Liked by 1 person

  22. Dequan's avatar

    @Ethan has tried twice to comment but it’s a new year, same old Word Press. So I will paste on his behalf;

    I wish the White House would just shove circuit court nominees down the throats of Senators from the opposing party. If only Republicans were willing to negotiate like Democrats. Harris and Feinstein came up with district court nominees in California that were agreeable to the Trump White House even after Trump nominated Bumatay, Collins, and Lee against the California Senators’ wishes.

    Anyways, here’s my picks for the 4th circuit vacancy.

    Top picks
    1. Ryan Park (born c. 1983): Solicitor General of North Carolina, where he represented UNC trying to keep affirmative action in place. Former SCOTUS clerk to Justices Ginsburg and Souter. He’d be a strong contender to be the first AAPI SCOTUS Justice if Democrats get to make the pick (otherwise it’ll be Ho or Bumatay, ughhh).

    2. Christopher Brook (born c. 1979). Currently a Partner at the public interest law firm Patterson Harkavy. I believe but am not 100% certain that he is gay. Formerly a Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Also former Legal Director of the ACLU of North Carolina.

    3. Allison Riggs (born c. 1981). Black woman. Currently a North Carolina Supreme Court Justice. Former Chief Counsel for Voting Rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

    Obviously there’s no way that Tillis and Budd would agree to any of those three so here are some other possibilities.
    1. Mark Hiller (born c. 1983). Partner at the traditional law firm Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA. Former SCOTUS clerk to Justice Sotomayor. Clearly young and a Democrat based on his donations but otherwise conventional.

    2. Eric Brignac (born c. 1976). Chief Appellate Attorney for the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District North Carolina. Clerked for both Clinton appointed 5th circuit Judge James Dennis and G.W. Bush appointed 4th circuit Judge Allyson Duncan. Also an Adjunct Professor at UNC Chapel Hill School of Law.

    3. Allegra Collins (born 1972). A Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals since 2019. A Democrat but otherwise a traditional background.

    4. Michael F. Easley Jr. (born 1985). US Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Son of former NC Governor Mike Easley. Was on the CJA Panel while in private practice. Young but otherwise traditional background.

    5. Toby Hampson (born 1975). Another Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals since 2019. Also a Democrat with an otherwise traditional background.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Zack's avatar

    I think Allison Riggs will be out simply because that would create a vacancy on the North Carolina Supreme Court.
    Hoping for Park or Brook but thinking one of the other names on the list is more likely.
    Still, better any of them versus a Federalist Society hack.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      Riggs, Park & Brook would probably be my three favorite picks too. North Carolina had a Democrat governor so I’m not worried so much about creating a vacancy in the SCOT-NC. I will say one thing, I don’t want to see another net loss of Black men in the circuit courts. I truly hope we get a young progressive or left of center Black man for either the 1st (Very unlikely), 6th (Edward Stanton is a strong possibility but unlikely Blackburn & Haggerty would let two of the three Tennessee seats on the 6th be Black men) or now the 4th. Anybody have any Black men that could be given strong consideration to replace Wynn?

      Like

      • Ryan J's avatar

        Given you reminded me about the net loss of Black men on the circuit courts, now I can’t help but wonder if that’s a factor keeping Clay, Gregory, and other senior-eligible Black men from taking senior status.

        Given that Wynn is conditioning senior status on a successor, he could theoretically demand that his successor be a Black man (though he almost certainly will not do this).

        Although I agree that Biden should nominate more Black men to the circuit courts, I am glad that the Black men who have gone senior so far are looking for qualities other than race and gender in their successors.

        Liked by 1 person

      • keystone's avatar

        For your consideration…..

        One name that hasn’t been mentioned yet is US Attorney Dena King.

        King is in her early 40’s. She is the first person of color ever to serve as U.S. attorney in Charlotte.

        Both Tillis and Budd supported her nomination for that role.

        Her background is relatively standard – Ass’t DA in Charlotte, enforcement attorney for the securities division of the N.C. secretary of state’s office, and then the US Attorney’s office.

        Not a lot of obviously progressive bits. However, I did find an interview with Charlotte Magazine where she talks a lot about the importance of laws but also the fact that “We cannot arrest our way out of crime”. She also talk a lot about having justice in combination with compassion and the need to build a more equitable system.

        She’s not Dale Ho….but she seems to be smart, competent, def. left of center, and potentially confirmable.

        Ryan Park would be my top draft pick for this spot but Dena King wouldn’t be very good as well imo.

        Liked by 1 person

  24. Gavi's avatar

    @Ethan
    “I wish the White House would just shove circuit court nominees down the throats of Senators from the opposing party. If only Republicans were willing to negotiate like Democrats.”

    I 100% second this, at the risk of being reminded that the country doesn’t want Dems to fight dirty like Republicans.

    This is why Irma Ramirez will always be the worst pick, to date, for a Dem president.
    Trump did not make the wave of district court vacancies in California tempt him away from naming ultra-MAGA 9th Circuit nominees. Sure, district courts are important, too, but like Trump, that would not have stopped me from nominating the youngest progressive I could find in Texas.
    Let the pressure of overcrowded dockets and courtrooms fall on the senators who are preventing the WH from nominating new district court judges.

    @Dequan
    Haha, I think we mainly disagree on racialized stuff and how great Biden is. To a much lesser extent, confirmation strategies.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Hank's avatar

    Glad to see that Wynn is going senior – wish he would’ve done it earlier given how slow Biden is with naming red state circuit judges, but I’ll take what I can get. Here’s hoping the administration/senators had some heads up and this doesn’t take as long to fill as the Kanne CA7 vacancy.

    As for possible nominees, I think Riggs would be great but unlikely to get blue slips (I’m not convinced she can win a NC state Supreme Court race, and better for her to have life tenure anyways). Park probably also wouldn’t get blue slips – he’s more conventional, but I just doubt Tillis and especially Budd will support a young, Asian nominee. More likely than any of the names mentioned above is either (1) a magistrate judge, or (2) someone from the US Attorney’s office (probably someone in EDNC since Wynn sits in Raleigh). Other than Federico, haven’t all the red state circuit nominees been magistrate judges? I’m not sure if any of the North Carolina magistrate judges are the right age & centrist/center-left/not a Fed Soc nutjob.

    And with all due respect, who cares about the district court vacancies – CA4 is split 9-6 in our favor, so any Fed Soc district judge’s ruling on a major issue is likely to be reversed on appeal (or en banc if necessary). I’m not convinced that the NC senators (especially Budd) are negotiating in good faith to fill the district court vacancies, and it’s much more important to maintain the favorable majority on CA4 with a solid liberal anyways.

    Liked by 2 people

  26. Dequan's avatar

    @Hank

    Andre Mathis wasn’t a magistrate judge. But certainly I get your point a good amount have been in red states. I hope my prediction I said last year that we won’t see any more circuit court nominees that don’t get both home state senators blue slips doesn’t come to fruition in this case. So many great picks including some I would give an A+ to, to choose from. I would hate to see a diminished nominee just to get two district court seats filled.

    Liked by 1 person

  27. star0garnet's avatar

    Tillis has been the most reasonable GOPer on judicial nominations outside of Collins, Murkowski, and Graham. So, 1) hopefully that can be reflected in whatever judge package is agreed upon, and 2) Biden won’t want to piss him off. I’m glad this is a TBD retirement date; I hope it stays that way.

    This continues to raise the remarkably high retirement rate for senior-eligible Obama circuit appointees. It’s now at 14/18, with only James Graves (MS), Jane Branstetter Stranch (TN), Scott Matheson (UT), and Jimmie Reyna (Fed) having not announced. No more qualify before May of next year (Richard Taranto, Fed). If any of the first three want to go senior this congress, the clock’s ticking.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. tsb1991's avatar

    There’s still a lot of uncertainty on the Senate schedule today. Last night only the Republican Cloakroom feed mentioned a second vote after the Kazen confirmation (the Labor nominee), Periodicals/Press Gallery made no mention. This morning Press Gallery has mentioned “at least 1 vote” at 11:45AM.

    Obviously the outcome of Kazen is not in doubt but the vote should be a good temperature check on attendance. Manchin and Menendez both voted No on the first cloture vote for the Labor nominee, if he’s being voted on again maybe Menendez flipped? And if that’s the case they’d need at least one Republican absence to counter Cantwell since Manchin was a no.

    Right now nothing is scheduled for after the lunch break.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. keystone's avatar

    Another name I might throw out is Sarah Boyce, deputy AG & General Counsel.

    She clerked for Sandra Day O’Connor, Stephen Breyer, and Jeffrey Sutton (GWB appointee to 6th)

    One thing I will say about the NC opening is that Thom Tillis is on the Judiciary Committee. I often forget this b/c he’s usually pretty composed and tends to not go off on nominees a la some of his colleagues. Having a somewhat reasonable senator will prob be an asset in the negotiations

    Liked by 1 person

    • Gavi's avatar

      I’m probably the only one who disagrees with the usefulness of Tillis. I think his “reasonableness” is more of a problem to get a great nominee than Budd’s inflexibility. Biden and the Dems are less likely to go the Andre Mathis route because of Tillis. Instead, the WH will probably give him the Kennedy/Graham treatment.
      I want the most progressive nominee, not a negotiated centrist. Again, I want the WH to do exactly what Trump did to Dems, especially on the 9th Circuit.
      We can’t have the 4th, once the most conservative court, become less progressive with a Dem president and Dem senate.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Gavi's avatar

        Haha, real Gavi here. It’s go time so I don’t want any delays. This could be Dems last chance to have an impact on the courts this decade.
        From the Holland article:
        “[H]er colleagues from both federal court and private practice praised her legal acumen and her writings while serving as a law clerk.”
        I’m actually kinda bummed by Holland.
        There’s no overt progressivism in her background but I was hoping that she would be and also be an intellectual on the courts, including a possible elevation. Besides, there’s no guarantee that her replacement will be better.

        Liked by 1 person

    • tsb1991's avatar

      The three non-voters on Kazen were Cantwell (expected), and then Cassidy and Warner. Manchin voted no on the Labor nominee so they would have needed all 50 Democrats present and the VP to confirm him. With Cassidy out that would have cancelled out Cantwell’s absence but they probably had to scrap that vote due to Warner’s absence, which he was around to vote yesterday.

      Liked by 1 person

  32. aangren's avatar

    I didnt vote for biden in the hopes that he can find a consensus nominee with charlatans like ted cruz and republicans who despise black people and want to use every opportunity in the law to take away their opportunities. Trump shoved hack after hack after hack down the democrats throats and told them to kiss his ass and like it and what does biden do? Work in good faith with a charlatan like cruz to nominate a nearly 60 year old right of center nominee to an appellate court. One side brings a gun to the fight and the other brings a knife. I honestly dont care to even follow up with the nominations again. whats the point? new circuit vacancy? work with the bad faith scumbag republicans who hate and deride your voter base as moochers and welfare queens to find a consensus nominee, what did trump do? shoved patrick bumatay down his vp harris throat and told her to kiss his ass. i yearn for fight thats all. We cant go on like this, in a sane world why would a 6th circuit nominee not be named already? Why even entertain working with a racist loon like marsha blackburn? i feel like i am speaking chinese here, everyone is so scared to criticize biden. I supported the guy over bernie in the primary but i am fed up of this nonsense. I didnt vote for biden to work in good faith with republican loons to find right of center lawyers to be judges while trump shoved goon after goon! hack after hack! trump lunatic filled 5th circuit just overruled a mundane biden rule on dishwashers to protect the environment with no basis on law simply because of their right wing bias and yet biden is working with these folks? how! shove liberal nominees after nominees down their throats. I rather 10 dale hos over 10 joshua kolars anyday. So sick of this rubbish! Just dont blame us when he fails in the election. Incoming biden sycophants to attack in 3 2 1 go

    Like

    • Frank's avatar

      Biden might lose in 2024, but it’s got nothing to do with the judiciary, everyone, including most especially you, who says that here is loony in thinking that. Nobody on the left or in the middle cares about who is being nominated to the circuit courts, and it’s far too early to be looking at the electoral polling anyways.

      By the way, I’ve been forgetting to ask, but when are you going to acknowledge that Biden actually nominated someone who previously worked for Planned Parenthood to a circuit court seat after screaming about it for months on end and saying it would never happen? I didn’t create that purity test, you did. Not saying Biden should be praised for that pick, but

      If you wanted Biden to nominate far-left hacks, you voted for the wrong guy in the primary bud. Biden’s entire career has been based on working with Republicans and Democrats to get things done, and he’s not going to change his ways just because some on the far left want him to.

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      @aangren

      I agree “ I rather 10 Dale Ho’s over 10 Joshua Kolar’s anyday”. There’s two problems with that statement you made however…

      First, that isn’t the reality we have. The choice isn’t between 10 Dale Ho’s & 20 Joshua Kolar’s. The more realistic comparison would be a choice between 10 Dale Ho’s with zero district court judges or 10 Joshua Kolar’s with 15 district court judges. That also means 15 less district court seats left vacant for a future Republican president to fill.

      Second, when people such as yourself let the perfect be the enemy of the good & are perfectly willing to let Donald Trump get a second term just because Biden hasn’t been perfect on judges (Despite him probably being the best Democrat on judges in history), then you get ZERO Dale Ho’s, ZERO Joshua Kolar’s & ZERO district court judges starting a year from now. So I’m not sure what your end game is but reading what you have been writing lately, it doesn’t sound like any more Myrna Perez, Nancy Abudu or Dale Ho’s are anywhere in those plans.

      Liked by 1 person

  33. Zack's avatar

    I can see Gaston being resubmitted but Bjelkengren and Colom won’t be.
    The latter for the blue slip rule, the former for her horrible performance during her hearing, one of the few times someone disqualified themselves (there was nominee under Trump who gave a similar horrible performance who withdrew.)
    Have to wait and see.

    Liked by 3 people

  35. star0garnet's avatar

    Looking at NC’s magistrate judges, there are limited options.

    Three are too old for this administration:
    James E. Gates, 69, registered R
    Joe L. Webster, 69, D
    David C. Keesler, 61, D

    Two are FedSoc hacks:
    Robert T. Numbers II, 42, R
    Susan C. Rodriguez, 42, R

    Two are clearly GOPers from their donations:
    Robert B. Jones Jr., 55, R
    Brian S. Meyers, 45, R

    One has a GOP-tilting donation history and always pulls a GOP primary ballot:
    W. Carleton Metcalf, 51, U (3R, 1D donations)

    One is verging on too old for this administration:
    Kimberly A. Swank, 58, D (Rodriguez is Biden’s only older circuit appointee, but Kahn and Berner are in the same range)

    That leaves just two:
    L. Patrick Auld, 53, U (pulled R ballots in 2000 and 2016×2, D ballots in 2008 and 2010, and nonpartisan ballots in 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2022)
    Joi Elizabeth Peake, 51, D

    Liked by 1 person

  36. Ben's avatar

    Press Gallery Twitter feed has updated with four cloture votes starting at 4pm. Rodriguez (DOL), Goffman (EPA), Crews and Mehalchick. Guess we’ll know soon if they have the votes. Glad they’re not wasting time moving ahead.

    Liked by 2 people

  37. Lillie's avatar

    Some noms could have to withdraw due to private lack of support from other dems.

    Manchin gets a lot of eyes on him, but there could be others since its 2024.

    Probably obvious but I dont think I saw anyone else say it.

    Liked by 1 person

  38. pj91's avatar

    Should left wing advocacy groups start doing surveillance/intelligence on people they think might be future nominees in an R administration? That way they would have a lot more information ready to go.

    Like for the fifth circuit, you could very well have Smith and Jones take senior status and I can imagine someone like Kaczmarek (which unfortunately a lot of the damning info on him is already known and he still got in as a district judge), Jonathan Mitchell, Jimmy Blacklock, or some of the guys in the SG’s office getting the nod.

    But even if someone very far right gets those seats – Texas is still a red state and they can’t be more far right than the people they’re replacing. More importantly, the dems also should figure out who is on a shortlist to replace Easterbrook, Wilkinson and Niemeyer since you don’t want “fifth columns” in your own state.

    I’m not too worried about IL as the Trump nominating person had a good relationship with Durbin and Duckworth. MD and VA is a wild card. I’m not sure how much Warner and Kaine will cooperate with them. Hopefully someone like Cullen would replace Wilkinson – but I’m worried it would be a looney tune like Cucinelli. I also wonder who they would consider in Maryland.

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Joe's avatar

    I can’t imagine Kaczmaryk getting support from Collins or Murkowski for an appellate seat. They have voted No on R nominees before. Not saying it’ll never happen but youd probably have to have 53 or 54 R senators to get him through.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. tsb1991's avatar

    1) Tuned into C-SPAN just before 4PM to see if anything would get voted on, but Schumer wound up withdrawing the cloture motions for the EPA/Labor nominees and now the Mehalchick/Crews cloture motions will ripen sometime tomorrow.

    2) The SJC has posted all of the nominees listed for Thursday’s meeting. Looks like everybody that the President re-nominated yesterday. No one is labeled in red (not sure if that’ll change between now and Thursday), so it looks like everybody listed will get a vote? I know everybody from the 12/13 and 11/29 hearings were never previously listed on the SJC agenda and that this week they’d be held over, if that’s not the case, maybe some deal was struck to just vote them out this week given the multi-week recess?

    https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/01/11/2024/executive-business-meeting

    Liked by 1 person

    • Gavi's avatar

      If this holds, it would be Republicans agreeing to suspend their right to request a holdover. Being held over last year doesn’t matter this year.

      At any rate, if Republicans don’t request holdovers, it makes it sucks even more that Biden didn’t renominate the full slate of everyone he intends to renominate.
      I don’t know if it’s too late now, but if yesterday’s renominations get voted out of SJC on Thursday, and Biden doesn’t send the other nominees he clearly intends to renominate, it would be a terrible blunder and awful way to start the new year, even if it’s only a week’s delay, assuming there’s an executive meeting next week’s and the late comers are put on the agenda.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      It really sucks Tim Scott’s campaign didn’t go anywhere. Jim still being in the race would have compensated for Manchin or when one Dem was out. I’ve all but given up on any Republican senator disclosing they have Covid. They either aren’t testing or don’t give a crap & will show up to work regardless. Democrats on the other hand will take the 5 days off when they test positive so it’s what it is.

      Like

    • tsb1991's avatar

      That was the risk of filing cloture on nominees who will likely all be party-line votes and may even need the VP for confirmation when they won’t be voted on for several weeks, no way to guarantee attendance that far out.

      Earlier I had mentioned that Cassidy and Warner didn’t vote today. Warner voted last night but Cassidy didn’t, so possibility that Cassidy is out all week? If Warner’s back tomorrow but not Cassidy that would put the Senate at 50-48 (Cassidy and Cantwell out).

      Also, is the five day COVID isolation from the days of the test or when you started feeling any symptoms? If it’s the former, Cantwell could be back by Thursday, no? If the latter (which I doubt), slight possibility she’s back tomorrow.

      Liked by 1 person

  42. Jamie's avatar

    As I mentioned the other day, Riggs and Brook are too liberal to be nominated at this point. If Wynn had taken senior status a year or more ago, it might be different.
    Ryan Park might be someone you fight for, especially if Budd is going to just block anyone for the next year. Sarah Boyce is probably too young for Biden.

    If Tillis will let Cheri Beasley (who is 57/58) through, I’d certainly take it. Another compromise option is failed Obama judicial nominee and appellate chief for the US Attorney of EDNC Jennifer May-Parker (who is 59). She was blocked by Burr out of spite, but he’s gone.

    Like

      • Dequan's avatar

        @Jaime

        Oh don’t get me wrong, I understand whenever you’re coming from. It’s just that I think you can compromise without completely giving everything away. Like I would start with Riggs & Park. I would make it clear to Tillis & Budd I want to nominate one of them but am willing to listen to a few suggestions. If they come back with a Doris Pryor or Frederico type of a nominee that’s in their late 40’s or at worst just barely 50 I would be ok with that. But giving in to somebody that’s in their late 50’s is barely replacing Wynn with somebody around a decade or so younger than him. I’m a post blue slip world, I just don’t think you have to give in completely.

        Like

      • Jamie's avatar

        As has been discussed, Riggs is a non starter because she’s running to keep her seat on the state SC. By the time she is confirmed it would be impossible to replace her on the ballot.
        You could start with Brook and Park, or just Park. But if Budd in particular is going to just obstruct, I’d nominate Park. But if there’s willingness to accept either a Pryor/Federico type or an older liberal like Beasley, I’d take it.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        @Frank

        No I can’t say that I do. Sure the most qualified person is nice but it isn’t what I care most about. I want a young progressive first & foremost. I will automatically assume anybody being considered for a circuit court judgeship is a highly qualified attorney. If there is another highly qualified attorney that’s more qualified but is older & less progressive then the answer to your question is no, I don’t want the most qualified person if I’m being honest. If you’re talking about open heart surgery than yes, I want the most qualified person. If you’re talking about a federal judge with lifetime tenure, the most qualified person probably doesn’t even crack the top three in my list of importance.

        Like

    • Hank's avatar

      I’m not sure why folks are assuming Park is progressive – he’s worked at DOJ and the NC SG’s office under the Cooper administration, which don’t tell you much and at best suggest that he’s center-left. The NC senators are likely to oppose him because he’s young (and because they’re racist and he’s Asian), not because he’s the liberal equivalent of James Ho. I’m also not sure why he’d be a top contender for SCOTUS other than his age/race and past clerkships (which by themselves hardly vault anyone to the front of the line) – given Dobbs, any future Dem nominees to SCOTUS will likely be women, which IMO is a smart play politically.

      No way Budd signs off on his former senate opponent Beasley, but she’s got a proven liberal record and would be worth the nomination despite her age.

      Folks on this blog need to stop acting like people drop dead at the age of 60. It does not matter how long a specific judge is active so long as they go senior under a Dem administration, and an older progressive nominee can go senior sooner. The worst nominees are the young centrists who (1) will likely resist moving the law in a fairer/more just direction during their many years on the bench, and (2) might go senior (or just quit) under a Republican administration.

      Like

      • Frank's avatar

        Any evidence that the NC senators are racist? Please provide it before making such an outward claim. I do agree that the evidence showing Park would be a flaming liberal is quite small, although being a POC sadly does make it more likely that someone will get a SCOTUS nomination despite any other relevant qualifications these days.

        I also completely agree with your last paragraph though. Reading Gavi’s and Dequan’s posts I would be led to believe that the average life expectancy is closer to 60 instead of 80.

        Like

      • Dequan's avatar

        @Hank

        You’re missing a couple of points when you say you can nominate 60 year olds to the circuit courts. You’re not deepening your bench for the SCOTUS. If you put somebody around 60 on a circuit court, that’s one less option for a future SCOTUS vacancy.

        Plus if they do what you suggest & just retire sooner under a Democrat president, that’s still wasting a future SJC & senate floor slot. As you can see that time is precious. Wynn was nominated by Obama, two presidents ago. If a Republican wins the presidency this year, there will be very few Trump term one judges they have to waste floor time on to replace. That’s because he nominated younger judges. So it’s a long term strategy that makes nominating older judges bad policy in MOST cases. Of course there are exceptions to that rule like Beth Robinson & Nicole Berner but very very VERY few exceptions.

        Like

      • Jamie's avatar

        And where did I say he was “progressive”? But he is a solid Democrat who clerked for RBG, Asian-American, 41, and center-left. And from North Carolina, that’s pretty damn good. And yes, he’s super intelligent and SCOTUS material.
        Again I don’t think Riggs or Brook (who are your strong progressives) are going to be nominated at this time. If Wynn had left a year earlier, maybe. But not now.

        Liked by 2 people

      • Hank's avatar

        @Frank I know you’re conservative, but either you’re trolling or too lazy to Google. What’s next, going to ask for evidence that the sky is blue or water is wet?

        Budd: https://indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/ted-budds-familys-company-has-track-record-of-employee-lawsuits-workplace-violations/, https://www.ncdp.org/media/what-theyre-saying-disqualifying-dangerous-budd/.

        Tillis: https://indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/latino-leaders-thom-tillis-coronavirus/

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hank's avatar

        @Jamie I read “too liberal” as “progressive”, so my bad if that’s not what you meant – I just don’t think there’s anything in Park’s record that suggests he is particularly liberal, so he would be a consensus candidate if not for his age/race.

        And to me, the KBJ nomination (over Childs and Kruger) indicates that Dems are catching up and nominating SCOTUS candidates that excite the base/have a progressive track record. Park is great, but I don’t think he fits that – and I certainly think that if the Dems get another SCOTUS nominee while he’s still young enough, it will be a woman.

        @Dequan – “waste floor time”? It’s not as if they have so many circuit judges they can’t possibly confirm them all, and I’d rather take the time to confirm someone who will ensure 10-15 years of liberal decisions over 20-25 years of “moderate” decisions. Young and liberal is obviously the goal, but youth by itself is useless if the person isn’t liberal – the Republicans aren’t nominating 35 year-old reasonable centrists, they’re nominating 35 year-old Fed Soc nutjobs.

        Like

      • Jamie's avatar

        Here’s what I actually said:

        “As I mentioned the other day, Riggs and Brook are too liberal to be nominated at this point.”

        Note I didn’t include Park under the “too liberal” tag. I don’t know where Park is on the ideological scale, other than that he is very likely somewhere left of center. But the GOP would strongly oppose him because of his youth and he is a potential SCOTUS nominee.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hank's avatar

        @Frank I tried posting the links, but I don’t think the post goes through when there’s more than one link. A quick Google search should turn them up though:

        In 2020, Tillis blamed Covid spread on *Latinos* not masking and social distancing (oh the irony).

        Budd’s company was sued for racial discrimination by a Vietnamese employee, and of course this: https://www.politicsnc.com/trump-and-the-n-word/.

        Not that any of this is a surprise – they’re Republicans in North Carolina, so racism is part of their appeal. What’s next, you going to ask for proof that water is wet? Or the sky is blue?

        Liked by 1 person

      • Ethan's avatar

        Reference Figure 2.1 on Page 15 (Page 27 in the PDF reader) of this PhD dissertation (by Adam Rutkowski, who received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Georgia in 2022) that definitively shows that Republicans Presidents on average nominate younger circuit judges than Democrat Presidents. https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/doctoral/The-Political-Backgrounds-of-US-Courts/9949450929702959/filesAndLinks?institution=01GALI_UGA&index=0

        Liked by 2 people

  43. Jamie's avatar

    Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Carolyn Jennings Thompson to replace Allison Riggs on the NC Court of Appeals. It seems like she was born around 1968. I’m not sure how qualified she is (less than one year as an appellate judge and most of her experience as a state court judge), but she could be a possibility.

    Liked by 1 person

  44. Mitch's avatar

    I’m wondering about the Todd Edelman nomination? Republicans have gone after him with both barrels loaded. Some even accused him of contributing to the murder of a child through one of his judicial rulings.

    I can see the White House backing down on Edelman, there are plenty of other options.

    Liked by 1 person

  45. keystone's avatar

    The good news, if the WH doesn’t renominate Edelman, is that there is already a nominee search in progress for that court.

    Rep. Norton has been leading a search committee to find a candidate to replace Beryl Howell when she assumes senior status next month.

    Application deadline was September 26th, so they should be getting close to having a nominee for the Howell spot. I’m sure they must have identified several interesting candidates in the process, one of which could easily be fast tracked to fill the other opening.

    Liked by 1 person

  46. aangren's avatar

    ”WEAK on crime” aka doesn’t crack hard enough on black people and put enough blacks in jail, so sick of this nonsense we all are aware of this racially code words. When did the trump admin not renominate a nominee for being too conservative? or too pro federalist society? this charade ends in november one way or another. Take me back to the good old days of myrna perez and candace jackson akiwumi i still recall the happiness seing those nominees now its mediocre white man after white man like kolar and kazen and prosecutors after prosecutors. The fact that an accomplished attorney like edelman wont be renominated just displays biden cowardice it is the perfect example. Conservatives never fail to renominate anyone because they are too anti voting rights act or pro voter id aka dont want black people to vote. I am tired of playing the role of the beaten wife enough is enough. I can bet my ass a president newsom wont give a damn what a charlatan like ted cruz wants for a judge or a president wes moore care about who blackburn prefers for appellate judges. i remind folks this senators hate their vote base and insult this folks every single way

    Liked by 1 person

    • Frank's avatar

      Edelman released a criminal who then went and killed multiple people. As Blackburn noted eloquently in the hearing, do you want a judge with such a track record as a federal judge. I doubt Manchin and Sinema, nor any of the Republicans want that, and I really can’t blame them. Especially in DC.

      Like

    • star0garnet's avatar

      “mediocre white man after white man”

      What? While I do believe that Democratic presidents should appoint disproportionate shares of minorities to partially counteract GOP presidents’ lack of minority appointees, that hardly means that they have a responsibility not to appoint white men, who still constitute a large part of the party’s base. And the administration has overperformed in this respect, but not outrageously so.

      In a presidential election (thus with higher minority turnout), Democratic voters break down as roughly:
      34% white women
      27% white men
      19% Black
      11% Hispanic
      5% Asian
      2% Native

      How that translate into expected nominees vs. what we’ve gotten (I have Angel Kelley and Regina Rodriguez as mixed race, but I’m guessing I missed a few in that respect):
      white women: 69.2 proportional, 47 actual (32% less)
      white men: 54.4 proportional, 29 actual (47% less)
      Black: 38.6 proportional, 59.5 actual (54% more)
      Hispanic: 22.3 proportional, 34.5 actual (55% more)
      Asian: 10.2 proportional, 29 actual (186% more)
      Native: 4.1 proportional, 4 actual (1% less)

      And of those 29 white men, 2 (or 3 if Edelman isn’t resubmitted) weren’t confirmed, and 10 others were signed off on by GOPers.

      Liked by 2 people

  47. aangren's avatar

    People are fed up of the cowardice and bending over to republicans from nominating judges who ted cruz and other republican charlatans prefer to ignoring muslim voters and his base on israel to being willing to accept any type of racist republican bill on the border . Enough is enough. The last straw personally was irma ramirez, to see biden pander and bend over to two despicable vile charlatans like ted cruz and coryn to get a consensus nearly 60 year old right of center nominee when his predecessor was nominating jim ho and bumatay and oldhams is a spit in the face. Its heresy to say biden sucks on here but folks are fed up of this nonsense

    Like

  49. aangren's avatar

    Offcourse the charlatan frank loves blackburn that is so suprising!When all else fails revert to but but this isnt daily kos! when folks have discuss sinema manchin tester and politics on here constantly, frank you are a shameless man. please dont come here feigning outrage he threw the first insult

    Like

  50. tsb1991's avatar

    Schumer wrapped up. Cloture was filed on another Labor nominee, probably to get something lined up for Thursday above all else.

    As far as tomorrow is concerned, there’s nothing scheduled, just for the Senate to resume consideration of Mehalchick and for a TBD on for when her and Crews’ cloture motions ripen, so pray to the attendance gods tomorrow?

    Liked by 1 person

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