Trump Misleads with Judicial Noms Statements

Washington, D.C., October 16, 2017 – In response to President Trump’s statements today that Senate Democrats are obstructing his judicial nominations, and that the level of quality among nominees is “extraordinary,” AFJ President Nan Aron released the following statement:

“President Trump’s statements about the pace of judicial confirmations is entirely misleading.  Federal judicial nominations, hearings and confirmations so far under President Trump have rapidly outpaced those that had taken place by this time during President Obama’s first term. Under Trump, there will have been hearings for more than two dozen district and circuit court nominees as of October 17, and six confirmations of district and circuit court judges, compared with 14 hearings and two confirmations under Obama.  As for the nominees themselves, one of Trump’s picks called transgender children part of ‘Satan’s plan’ and another insulted a sitting Supreme Court Justice as a ‘judicial prostitute.’ Yet another wrote extensively on a blog on which he recirculated racist ‘birther’ theories about President Obama. Such outrageous statements would never have been tolerated from nominees in any past administration we can think of, and these individuals are only being nominated now because the administration is counting on its Senate majority to ram them through on party-line votes.”