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Trump Appointments Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 17, 2017 21 Comments
I noted yesterday that Chuck Grassley finally appears ready to clear the backlog in Judiciary Committee hearings on Appeals and District court judicial nominees, by preventing withholding of "blue slips" from becoming de facto filibusters, Chuck Grassley rips up “blue slip” stall, Al Franken left groping for alternative delay tactic. It then will be up to Mitch McConnell to get nominees floor votes, and to overcome Democrat stalling tactics to draw out each nominee, even the ones they don't oppose. The goal has to be:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 16, 2017 23 Comments
I recently noted frustration with Democrat delay tactics for judicial nominations, including the withholding of "blue slips" to prevent confirmation proceedings to proceed, Trump judicial confirmations moving along, but not fast enough:
Every single vacant seat should be filled as quickly as possible. Some progress is not good enough. Grassley and McConnell need to clear all roadblocks, and Trump needs to fill the pipeline.
It looks like Grassley finally is getting the message, as Politico reports:

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 13, 2017 0 Comments
President Donald Trump has picked former drug executive Alex Azar for Health and Human Services secretary to replace Tom Price, who resigned in September after questions arose of his use of private jets. Azar served as HHS deputy secretary in President George W. Bush's administration from 2005 to 2007 when Mike Leavitt worked as secretary.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 12, 2017 16 Comments
In numerous prior posts we have followed the tortuous process of getting Trump federal judicial nominees confirmed. Democrats have thrown down every procedural delay possible, even for nominees they didn't oppose. What Democrats fear is that Trump will take advantage of the historic opportunity handed him to reshape the federal judiciary for a generation to come. We first covered this Democrat fear in December 2016, and how the Democrats' 2013 decision to remove the filibuster for judicial nominees below the Supreme Court level cleared the way, Dems’ Nuclear Option will allow Trump to fill over 100 court vacancies quickly.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 19, 2017 15 Comments
The rot in many institutions cannot be undone in one presidential term or even two. In part that's because of the entrenched permanent bureaucracy, in part because many (if not most) important institutions are not part of government. Higher Ed is a prime example. Over two generations, faculty hiring and infighting has led to an environment at close to all top tier universities and colleges that is hostile to non-progressive ideas and people. Read about my alma mater, Hamilton College, for the script on how the takeover happened there, Western Civilization driven off campus at Hamilton College. One institution that can be changed in a single presidential term (and definitely two) is the federal judiciary.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 17, 2017 12 Comments
President Donald Trump has announced that his pick for drug czar Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA) has withdrawn from consideration after a report alleges he helped with legislation that makes it harder for the DEA to go after drug companies that allegedly supply corrupt doctors and pharmacies with narcotics like opioids. Trump said he will declare a national emergency on the opioid epidemic next week.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 05, 2017 22 Comments
For several months we have been highlighting the unique opportunity presented to Donald Trump to reshape the federal judiciary. That opportunity has largely been lost in a liberal media trying to take down Trump over Russia, Russia, Russia, as I previously wrote, While you were focused on COMEY, Trump nominated another group of CONSERVATIVE Judges:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 14, 2017 13 Comments
I pointed out recently that when it comes to judicial nominees, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have signaled that they will do whatever it takes to get the nominees through the process over Democrat delay tactics. As to judicial nominees, the slowdown tactics include Democrat Senators refusing to return so-called "blue cards":
No Democrat has yet returned a “blue slip” signaling acceptance of President Trump’s federal judicial picks — an ominous sign for Republicans, who fear it signals an upcoming attempt to slow-walk the administration’s plans to reshape the federal judiciary....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 02, 2017 38 Comments
For the Editorial Board of the NY Times, these are not the best of times, but the worst of times. But more than anything, for the Times Editorial Board, it is the age of foolishness and the season of Darkness. [h/t Charles Dickens] Trump *literally* has driven them insane. The Editorial blaming Sarah Palin for the Gabby Giffords shooting was pure emotion spewing forth, a guttural lashing out, a primal scream. It also was blatantly and knowingly false.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 22, 2017 16 Comments
This may be the least covered major story of the Trump era, so far at least. While the media and Democrats are obsessed with increasingly bizarre Trump-Russia conspiracy theories, and failed attempts to flip Special Election congressional seats, an enormous change to the federal judiciary is well underway. We have been covering this story, and the relative lack of media coverage, for months. Most recently, I wrote While you were focused on COMEY, Trump nominated another group of CONSERVATIVE Judges:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 07, 2017 32 Comments
It's understandable why everyone is focused on The Greatest Show on Earth, the appearance of James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, June 8, 2017. But barring some surprise testimony not in Comey's prepared statement, the hearing will merely confirm "bad" news for Trump already leaked to the press - none of which rises to the level of criminality. And there are some good aspects of the testimony, including that Trump was not personally under investigation and never asserted any type of interference in the Russia probe. While everyone was focused on Comey's prepared statement, Trump went about his business filling vacancies in the federal judiciary.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 07, 2017 11 Comments
President Donald Trump announced on Twitter this morning that he will nominate former assistant attorney general Christopher Wray for FBI director. The announcement comes one day before former FBI director James Comey testifies in front of a Senate committee.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 17, 2017 15 Comments
Earlier this month, President Trump fired FBI director James Comey.  Since then, a number of people of have withdrawn their names from consideration for the post, with the latest being Former Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher. The Hill reports:
A former Justice Department official has withdrawn her name from consideration to replace former FBI Director James Comey, according to multiple reports.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 15, 2017 20 Comments
Okay, I'll admit this is a good bit of trolling, but I can't help myself this morning. You remember Merrick Garland? He's the guy Obama nominated for the Scalia seat, but who never got a vote. That was like an injection of hot sauce into the veins of Democrats. Senator Mike Lee recently floated the idea of Trump nominating Garland to replace James Comey as FBI Director. Lee did it in a very Trumpian way - on Twitter:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 08, 2017 19 Comments
As we have pointed out repeatedly, Trump has an unprecedented opportunity to nominate a substantial percentage of the federal judiciary. There are currently over 100 vacancies, and many more are likely to open up, Liberal nightmare: Trump could appoint half federal judiciary. Yet Democrats, so blinded by the light of #TheResistance, appeared oblivious to the approaching Tsunami of Trump lower court nominations. Today the first waves of the Trump judicial nomination tsunami hit the beaches in D.C. USA Today reports, Trump names 10 conservatives to federal courts:
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