Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said President Trump will soon have appointed one in every four judges sitting on U.S. federal appellate courts and that confirming well-qualified nominees should not be seen as a partisan exercise.
“At the close of business today, it so happens one in every four judges on the federal courts of appeals will have been nominated by President Trump and confirmed by us here in the Senate,” the Kentucky Republican said in a Senate floor speech.
“There is nothing about this that ought to be viewed as a partisan accomplishment or an accomplishment only for this president or only for one side,” he said. “Every American should be proud of this. Citizens deserve a judiciary of fair-minded men and women who don’t confuse [their] jobs with the job of a legislator.”
Mr. McConnell joined Mr. Trump at an event at the White House on Wednesday to celebrate the president’s appointments to the federal bench, which conservatives have celebrated as a major accomplishment for the administration.
Democrats, meanwhile, say Republicans are now stacking the federal judiciary with judges with political agendas after the GOP had blocked many of President Obama’s nominees.
“If the concept of faithful judges fulfilling their proper role strikes anyone as a partisan development or a threat to their political agenda, I would suggest it is their agenda that needs modifying and not the judicial branch that our founders intended,” Mr. McConnell said on Thursday.
The Senate is set to hold three confirmation votes on Thursday: two for U.S. District judicial nominees and one for a circuit court nominee.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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