Judicial nominees
November 27, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
When President Trump took office, only four federal courts of appeals — the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth — contained a majority of Republican appointees. However, President Trump, assisted by Sen. Grassley and his fellow Republican Senators, has done an outstanding job of filling vacancies on these courts with conservative jurists. One sensed that it was only a matter of time until at least one appeal courts with a majority
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November 15, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Sen. Jeff Flake says he will not vote to confirm any judicial nominees unless the Senate holds a vote on legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired. Majority Leader McConnell has said he won’t hold such a vote because it’s not necessary. He says there is no realistic prospect of Mueller being fired. Flake’s statement is significant because, unfortunately, he sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Without
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November 13, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Brett Kavanaugh’s elevation to the Supreme Court created a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. I suspect that every star conservative lawyer in Washington under the age of, say, 52 had eyes on this seat. Today, President Trump nominated Neomi Rao to fill it. Rao currently serves as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a Senate-confirmed job. She
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October 13, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
With Election Day fast approaching and vulnerable Senate Democrats eager to leave town, Majority Leader McConnell had the Democrats right where he wanted them — pining so badly to get out of Washington that they would finally agree to confirm a host of Trump administration nominees they have long been obstructing. On Thursday, the deal was reached. Democrats agreed to unanimous consent on 15 judicial and 21 executive branch nominees.
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October 4, 2018 — Steven Hayward
It is said that Republicans are “the stupid party,” and perhaps so, but we should entertain the thesis that Democrats are the incompetent party. Amidst the justified outrage at the Democratic Party’s actions in the Kavanaugh nomination fight, let us step back for a moment and revel for a bit in the sheer political incompetence of Democrats. • Democratic voter intensity for the midterm election next month was already sky-high,
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October 3, 2018 — Steven Hayward
If it wasn’t already evident that even if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court in a few days the left will carry on with a full-scale attack (including an impeachment investigation), then the email below from Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect sent out yesterday makes the matter explicit. I’ll intersperse my comments in places: The Back-Up Way of Defeating Kavanaugh. Assume the worst: Let’s posit that within
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October 1, 2018 — Steven Hayward
It’s pretty clear that with Blasey-Ford’s already thin story wilting further, Democrats are now going to Plan B—attacking Kavanaugh for supposed perjury over his alcohol consumption as a student and young man. (Once again, Mary Jo Kopechne is unavailable for comment about the alcohol consumption habits of Democratic political figures, or their fondness for sandwiches.) Which brought up a memory from about a decade ago. I’m sitting around my house
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September 28, 2018 — Steven Hayward
I was on the road all day yesterday (and again today) and missed all of the Kavanaugh hearing in real time. Scott and John have already offered up solid observations, especially about Senator Lindsey Graham’s finest moment. I’ll bet Rush Limbaugh lets him off the hook today from his usual label as “Lindsey Grahamnesty.” Some other time perhaps I’ll explain why I think Rachel Mitchell’s performance in the hearing was
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September 24, 2018 — Steven Hayward
Earlier today I had fun spanking (can I still say that?) the “respected” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for her clueless inquiry about why anyone would have suspicion about a Kavanaugh accuser because of her dedication to “human rights.” And right on cue, Amnesty International, as though in an audition for The Onion, confirms my point: QED, as they used to say in math class.
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September 24, 2018 — Steven Hayward
A reader passed along to me a top ten list of the next accusations that will be thrown at Brett Kavanaugh, which appeared in a comment thread on Ann Alhouse’s site. (UPDATE: I have learned that this list first appeared on, and was created by the pseudonymous proprietor of, Mr. Dilettante’s Neighborhood.) I wasn’t able to spot the author quickly, but hat tip to you whoever you are, for this is
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September 23, 2018 — Steven Hayward
I’ve been saying all week that you could expect another late hit on Brett Kavanaugh over the weekend, and right on schedule, we have the New Yorker story, which, as Paul and Scott have already noted, is pretty thin gruel. But it was absolutely necessary for the left to come up with a story like this, for several reasons. First, one thing that is true in virtually all cases of
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September 23, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
One of the Democrats’ main talking points regarding Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against Brett Kavanaugh is that the FBI should investigate before the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from Ford and Kavanaugh. In support of this talking point, Democrats and their friends in the media note that the FBI investigated Anita Hill’s sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas prior to Hill and Thomas testifying before the Committee. Hill herself says the
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September 21, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
CNN reports that negotiations between Christine Blasey Ford’s legal team and the Senate Judiciary Committee are moving forward such that it’s likely she will testify. I don’t know whether CNN’s report is accurate, but Committee staff does not appear to be pushing back against it. Here is the essence of CNN’s report with my commentary: The hearing cannot be on Monday. That’s not negotiable and is a red line. Katz
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September 20, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Citing “sources,” Fox News’ Shannon Bream reports on the demands Christine Blasey Ford and her legal team are making as a condition for her testifying about her allegations against Brett Kavanaugh: Ford team wants NO questions from lawyers, only Qs from Committee members, #Kavanaugh cannot be in the room, Kavanaugh must testify FIRST – more to come … These demands are absurd. No questions from lawyers? I guess Ford wants
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September 20, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, has little choice but to give evidence to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and do so promptly. If she persists in refusing, Judge Kavanaugh almost certainly will be confirmed more or less on schedule. Ford’s objective all along has been to prevent this result. Thus, it has seemed to me that Ford will agree to appear promptly, albeit only after trying to extract as many
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September 20, 2018 — Steven Hayward
It is hard to single out the most egregious media treatment of the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh because the field is so large and the competition so intense. But The Guardian at least deserves to make the Finals with its story today entitled “‘No accident’ Brett Kavanaugh’s female law clerks ‘looked like models’, Yale professor told students.” It is a transparent attempt to paint Kavanaugh as a sexist
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September 20, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
I confess that, in real time, I was unhappy with Sen. Charles Grassley’s handling of the first hour of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing. My live-blogging of the hearing made clear my view that Chairman Grassley should have been much more firm with the Democratic committee members who were trying to throw a monkey wrench into the proceedings. I was wrong. Grassley played it almost perfectly. He let the Democrats
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