Senate Opens Review of Trump Judicial Appointments

The Senate has opened its hearing process to decide whether to approve President Donald Trump's nominations of judges to the federal bench.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee opened the review of a judge appointed to an appeals court and several others to district courts.

At the outset, reported Politico, political posturing got underway with Republican Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reminding Democrats that former President Joe Biden often had the support of opposition Republicans for his nominees. "Elections, as we all know, have consequences," said Grassley. "I worry that partisanship will hamper these efforts."

His comments may have been a dig at Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the ranking Democrat on the committee who previously commented he might attempt to hinder the nomination process for Trump appointments.

Durbin and Grassley also got into a back-and-forth over the Trump administration's decision to prevent the American Bar Association from providing official input into the selection process. The administration characterized the bar as favoring liberal candidates.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to ABA President William Bay, "Unfortunately, the ABA no longer functions as a fair arbiter of nominees' qualifications, and its ratings invariably and demonstrably favor nominees put forth by Democratic administrations."

Grassley reminded senators that while the bar has no official standing in the process, it is always free to submit information it deems important, and senators could consider or ignore the bar as they desired.

Trump's nominee for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Whitney D. Hermandorfer, faced intense scrutiny in the opening hearing. The position on the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court bench is one of only a few appeals court seats Trump may be able to nominate. Democrats pointed to what they saw as her limited experience at the appellate level, while Republicans appeared pleased at her overall legal experience.

Hermandorfer currently works as the director of the strategic litigation unit for the Tennessee attorney general.

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