Is the judicial nomination process hopelessly broken?
Published on CNN
Lindsey Graham, the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was unusually blunt last Thursday when summing up the current state of affairs when it comes to judicial confirmations.”The system is definitely broken — I don’t know if it can ever be fixed,” the South Carolina Republican said with exasperation.
It was a startling admission coming from the man who will run countless confirmation hearings in the coming months in an effort to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominees. Graham spoke up as the committee considered the nomination of Neomi Rao. In some way, Rao’s nomination is Exhibit A of the current dysfunction.
When she was first nominated last year, she was considered by many as a sure-fire candidate for the Supreme Court one day, despite objections from the minority Democrats. But after coming under criticism from fellow conservatives, even her confirmation for the lower court could be extremely close — and potentially jeopardize her chance for the bench someday.