Seventeen of President Trump’s federal court nominees cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, setting them up for floor votes as Republicans look to install as many conservative judges as possible.
Eight nominees were approved on 11-10 party-line votes, and only two were approved unanimously. Three were nominated for circuit courts.
Democrats raised concerns over several nominees’ LGBTQ positions, saying they would not be fair to the gay community.
But Democrats spent the most time protesting attorney Thomas Alvin Farr, who was nominated to be the judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Mr. Farr was one of the nominees approved in a party-line vote.
Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey Democrat and Kamala Harris of California, both new to the Judiciary Committee this year, said Mr. Farr’s connection to the late Sen. Jesse Helms’ campaign in North Carolina concerned them and noted the Congressional Black Caucus’ opposition to him.
Mr. Farr had defended the Helms campaign in 1992, when the Justice Department filed a complaint against its efforts to intimidate black voters. Mr. Farr also defended North Carolina’s voter photo ID law, which was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit for discriminatory intent.
The seat Mr. Farr would fill has been vacant for 13 years. President Obama had nominated two black women to the court, but neither received a vote because both North Carolina senators didn’t return their blue slips in support of the picks.
“The Eastern District of North Carolina has a population that is roughly 27 percent African-American, yet this district has never had an African-American federal district court judge,” said the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
But Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, defended Mr. Farr’s reputation, noting that he had twice received a unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association.
“If this was the ABA on the Judiciary Committee, they would be voting him out by voice vote,” said Mr. Tillis. “He is a fair man.”
Elizabeth L. Branch was one of the nominees with bipartisan support, being approved for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in a 19-2 vote.
David Ryan Stras received a 13-8 vote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, and Stuart Kyle Duncan was approve in a party-line vote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Democrats had raised concerns over an article Mr. Duncan wrote opposing same-sex marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized it in 2015.
The 17 nominees now move to the Senate floor for final confirmation votes. Democrats have been forcing Republicans to run the full procedural clock for each nominee — even those that cleared the committee unanimously — so it will take weeks of floor time to approve all 17.
Under existing rules, even after the Senate has voted to head off a filibuster, judicial nominees can be debated for up to 30 hours. Sen. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican, has pushed for a rules change that would limit that to two hours for district court nominees. Circuit court nominees would still be subject to 30 hours’ debate.
He said Thursday that his proposal is sparking conversations with Democrats but hasn’t earned enough support. On the Hugh Hewitt radio program, he said if Republicans can’t muster votes to change the rules through the normal process, they should trigger the “nuclear option” to change the rules by simple majority vote.
“These are folks that have already gone through committee, already been approved,” Mr. Lankford said.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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