Trump team convinced court overhaul will drive 2020 win
Published in Politico
Already the Senate has confirmed more than 100 of the president’s nominees to the federal bench, including two Supreme Court Justices and 40 circuit court judges. Outside conservative groups and donors want the pace to move as quickly as possible.
It’s a troubling situation to left-leaning strategists who say the Trump administration and Senate leadership has broken tradition with both their selection of judges and the process of confirming them.
“I am not sure how they can speed it up anymore,” said Daniel Goldberg, legal director at the left-leaning Alliance for Justice. “Mitch McConnell has already eroded almost every rule and norm to expedite Trump’s far-right judges with as little transparency and vetting as possible.”
In addition to youth, Trump and his team look for potential judges who have Ivy League credentials or clerkships with high-profile judges or justices, according to a former administration official. The president also often talks about the importance of judges “not being weak,” said one individual familiar with the White House’s judicial selection process.