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Judicial Activism

Trump outpacing the last 6 Presidents in terms of judicial appointments – by a wide margin

By Robert Laurie ——--August 31, 2018

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Trump outpacing the last 6 Presidents in terms of judicial appointments – by a wide margin Obviously, conservatives are fond of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. So far, they also like Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation hearings start next week. Voters like myself, who may not be particularly fond of President Trump on a style-level, have long argued that the real prize of the 2016 election was the Supreme Court. Had Hillary been elected, she would have radically shifted the court to the left, designer cases would have been brought forth immediately, and the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 10th Amendments would have been gutted in short order.
So, as I’ve written before; even if (and I don’t think this is likely) Democrats managed to impeach Trump, we’ve already scored judicial wins that would make his presidency worthwhile. We tend to focus on the Supreme Court, because it’s the most prominent example of judicial appointments and thus garners the headlines, but Trump has achieved remarkable things all the way up and down the judicial ladder. This week, Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer worked out a deal that fast-tracked another 15 Trump-nominated judicial picks. 7 have already been confirmed, and another 8 will go through next week. As Bloomberg reports:
The latest confirmations mean Trump, with the help of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has already confirmed 60 judges to the courts — including 33 district court judges, 26 appeals court judges and Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. They will shape U.S law for generations, as most are in their 40s or 50s. They were chosen with input from the Federalist Society, a group of conservative judicial advocates who want to curtail the federal government’s powers. Liberal groups have countered that Trump’s judges will endanger economic regulations, civil rights laws, health care access and women’s reproductive rights.
The confirmation rate far outpaces the last six Presidents, who had done far less at the same point in their presidencies. According to a July report from Pew Research, was already well ahead of the competition before the deal with Schumer. When they published their findings, Donald Trump had 22 such appointments, as opposed to the following:
  • Barack Obama: 9
  • George W. Bush: 9
  • Bill Clinton: 11
  • George H.W. Bush: 15
  • Ronald Reagan: 14
  • Jimmy Carter: 10
Since then, Trump has widened the gap. That’s gotten left-wing panties in a bunch. They’ve had enough of their party’s weakness and failure. …In fact, they sound a lot like conservatives during the Obama years. Via Vox:
A sudden deal made by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on a set of judicial nominees has made Democratic activists livid. With Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing looming next week, Schumer reached an agreement late Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to fast-track the confirmations of 15 Trump-nominated judicial picks. Seven federal district court judges were confirmed that day, and eight were put on the docket for confirmation next week. A Senate Democratic aide says that the majority of the nominees greenlit as part of this deal were uncontroversial anyway — and emphasizes that Schumer’s efforts enable Democrats to hit the campaign trail, giving red-state Democrats a few extra days in their home states before coming back for Sen. John McCain’s memorial services this week.

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Just so you know, the base isn’t buying the “red state Dems’ line. Democrats aren’t supposed to be allowing well-qualified, “uncontroversial,” judges onto the bench. They’re supposed to obstruct every single thing that Trump or congressional Republicans try to do. As Brian Fallon, AG Eric Holder’s former director of public affairs and Hillary Clinton’s 2015 Press Secretary put it: “Mitch McConnell is in the middle of stealing the federal courts for conservatives, and Democrats continue to bring a butter knife to a gunfight. Democrats should be resisting Trump’s judge picks at every turn, not agreeing to fast-track them, as happened this week. It is hard to think of a more pathetic surrender heading into the Kavanaugh hearings.” Don’t worry, Mr. Fallon, I suspect things will get more pathetic soon. In the meantime, know this. Impeachment is, without question, the Democrats post-midterm goal. They may be trying not to say it, Jimmy Carter may be telling them to pipe down about it, but that’s where they’re headed. The effort, whether it succeeds or fails, it largely a reaction to Trump’s success with judicial nominations. There’s a movement currently afoot to sell the idea that if Trump is impeached – not necessarily removed, mind you – all of his appointments should be revoked. The thought process goes that despite a lack of any real evidence, Trump colluded with the Russians. So, anyone he put on the bench is instantly invalidated and should be removed. As the crazies at the Daily Kos argue:
…fighting Trump’s nominees is not about tit-for-tat, even though there’s a sizable portion of the activist base that needs to see a willingness on the part of Democrats to play as dirty as Republicans. It’s about the integrity of the courts. It’s about the fact that the person in the Oval Office is very likely there in part because he conspired with a foreign adversary to get there. He simply should not be in a position to reshape the courts.
Sorry kids, that’s not how it works. If Trump is impeached, HE is impeached. Not his appointees. That’s why we have confirmation hearings and votes. You’re not going to “yank” these people from the bench. However, I suspect they know this and have prepared a plan B. As every outraged leftist like to point out, most of Trump’s nominations have gone to young conservatives. They’re going to be on the bench for the next four decades. An impeachment would provide the left a platform from which they can declare future rulings invalid. Every time one of these judges upholds the 2nd Amendment, you’ll hear: “Oh, that went against us? Well, what would you expect from a Trump appointee?”
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Robert Laurie——

Robert Laurie’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain.com

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