Speaker 1: Get ready for a whirlwind of judicial confirmations this week.
Speaker 1: Under pressure from Republicans in the prospect of ads running
Speaker 1: against him, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is ramping up
Speaker 1: confirmations this week. He set up votes for four nominees
Speaker 1: to the federal appellate courts less than two weeks ago.
Speaker 1: At a press conference in the Rose Garden, President Trump
Speaker 1: complained that the Democrats were holding up votes on his
Speaker 1: judicial nominees, but he bragged about the number of judges
Speaker 1: he's had confirmed. They are obstructing, they're doing. It's really
Speaker 1: what I'm telling you. They're not good politicians, but they're
Speaker 1: very good at obstruction. Something that people aren't talking about
Speaker 1: is how many judges we've had approved, whether it be
Speaker 1: the Court of Appeals, circuit judges, whether it be district judges.
Speaker 1: Nine of Trump's judicial nominees, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorstch,
Speaker 1: have been confirmed by the Senate. At the same time,
Speaker 1: during his administration, President Obama had five judicial nominees, including
Speaker 1: Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, confirmed, joining us as Carl
Speaker 1: Tobio S Professor at the Union University of Richmond School
Speaker 1: of Law and an expert on judicial nominations, Carl in
Speaker 1: one week votes on four nominees to the federal courts
Speaker 1: of appeals. That's one level below the Supreme Court. How
Speaker 1: fast is that? It's very fast? Um, way ahead of
Speaker 1: I think Obama and Bush. Um. And it's it's important
Speaker 1: to remember. And I think Senator fine Signed, a ranking
Speaker 1: member on Senate Judiciary Committee, said and criticized moving nominees
Speaker 1: that quickly. I think the Democrats never did that, undrew Obama. Uh.
Speaker 1: In terms of stacking so many in one week, it's
Speaker 1: very difficult to prepare, as she said, Um for that
Speaker 1: many nominees study their records and be ready to actually
Speaker 1: debate it in a substantive manner when you have all
Speaker 1: of those in one week, Carl, taken as a group,
Speaker 1: how would you characterize Donald Trump's nominees? Maybe let's just
Speaker 1: start with the appeals court level. How conservative are these
Speaker 1: people that he is putting up there? Well, I think
Speaker 1: they are very conservative. I don't think there's much question
Speaker 1: about that in a number of them. Of course, we're
Speaker 1: recommended or even compiled um by the Federalist Society and
Speaker 1: Heritage Foundation for the initial group of twenty from whom
Speaker 1: Justice Coursage was selected. Uh. Many of those have been
Speaker 1: nominated now to the appeals courts. Uh. They're very conservative,
Speaker 1: but most of them are very well qualified as well,
Speaker 1: except for one. Uh we just found out yesterday who
Speaker 1: received a unanimously not qualified rating by the American Bar Association.
Speaker 1: Which judge is that or which perspective judge? It's Steve
Speaker 1: graz who is from Nebraska, nominated to the A Circuit
Speaker 1: and he has a hearing tomorrow. UH, and we'll see
Speaker 1: how that goes. To Carl, talk about the two nominees
Speaker 1: that were subjected to intense criticism by Senate Democrats. One,
Speaker 1: Amy Coney Barrett is on track to be confirmed today
Speaker 1: to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Speaker 1: Tell us what the objections were. Uh. I think the
Speaker 1: objections were that she had not had any appellate experience
Speaker 1: UM as a lawyer. Uh. And there were concerns about
Speaker 1: questions that she might not be unbiased on certain questions UM.
Speaker 1: And there was some questioning in the Judiciary committee about
Speaker 1: whether she could put aside her her faith. I think
Speaker 1: was away. It was phrased, and I think it was
Speaker 1: awkwardly asked by a couple of senators. UM, and someone
Speaker 1: said that's a religious test. I don't think that was
Speaker 1: what anybody had in mind. UM. But she has um
Speaker 1: a very strong record of scholarship, and I think she
Speaker 1: handled the questions very well in her hearing. So I expect,
Speaker 1: as you suggest, that she will be confirmed. She had
Speaker 1: a cloture vote yesterday, and UH is on track, as
Speaker 1: you suggest, for confirmation today or tomorrow, Carl. The Alliance
Speaker 1: for Justice, which is a liberal group, put out a
Speaker 1: statement yesterday that said that because of all the Russia investigation,
Speaker 1: because of questions about whether the Trump campaign was involved
Speaker 1: in collusion with with the Russian government in the campaign,
Speaker 1: the group said, this is no time for lifetime appointments
Speaker 1: to the bench. Is there something to that? Is there?
Speaker 1: If we get to the point where there are, um,
Speaker 1: you know, real questions about either this president's legitimacy or
Speaker 1: you know, whether impeachment might be around the corner, our
Speaker 1: democrats justified in taking that into account in really trying
Speaker 1: to slow down judicial nominations. Well, I don't think we're
Speaker 1: there yet. I didn't. If we get to that point, UM,
Speaker 1: people need to discuss it and debate it. But I
Speaker 1: think as long as the Republicans have a majority, they're
Speaker 1: not likely uh to do very much about that. Um.
Speaker 1: And it does seem rush this week, to be sure,
Speaker 1: in terms of stacking the four in one week, I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any question about that Republican. Has anyone
Speaker 1: has McConnell addressed the fact that he held up there?
Speaker 1: They're blaming the Democrats for holding these up. He held
Speaker 1: up and killed Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court. Well,
Speaker 1: amaze the people like Amy Coney Barrett are nominated for
Speaker 1: seats that very highly qualified Obama nominees were nominated for
Speaker 1: and had no hearing because they were blue slipped by
Speaker 1: Republican home stage senators. Uh. And McConnell was the foremost
Speaker 1: leader of that group. Uh. So that's I think the
Speaker 1: fact that we all know Carl only about thirty seconds left.
Speaker 1: But should we be concerned that the president has firmed
Speaker 1: out so much of the process of selecting these prospective
Speaker 1: judges to the Federalist Society and other conservatives, Well, I
Speaker 1: think it is a real question. Um. It seems to
Speaker 1: me it ought to be done in the White House
Speaker 1: completely by the White House, Uh, not by interest groups
Speaker 1: of any sort. So I think that's unfortunate. I think
Speaker 1: it's also unfortunate that McConnell seems pressed by the threat
Speaker 1: that judicial confermation network or run ads. Again, Tim, that
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like a very good way to run the government.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for being here, Carl. As always, that's
Speaker 1: Carl Tobias, professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.
Speaker 1: That's it for this edition of Bloomberg Long. We'll be
Speaker 1: back tomorrow one pm Wall Street Time. Hope you'll be
Speaker 1: as well. Thanks to our producer David Suckerman and our
Speaker 1: technical director Chris try Comey. Coming up next Bloomberg Markets
Speaker 1: with Carol Master and Corey Johnson. Carol's here to tell
Speaker 1: us what's the top thing on their agenda. So June,
Speaker 1: you've heard of Google, You've heard of Facebook, you've heard
Speaker 1: of Twitter. Well, representatives from those big tech companies they're
Speaker 1: testifying for Congress on the extent of Russian influence on
Speaker 1: their networks and in in the election. So I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: covering that. I'll be listening to that for sure. That's
Speaker 1: coming up next on Bloomberg