Five more of President Donald Trump’s federal district court nominees are likely to be confirmed this week, putting him over the century mark for judicial appointments.
If all clear the Senate, Trump will have appointed 102 judges to the federal bench, including Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
More could soon follow, as the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for three more district court nominees Tuesday, all of whom are supported by their home state senators.
Trump and the Republican-led Senate have aggressively pushed to reshape the judiciary with conservatives, but Democrats have pushed back on the nominating and vetting process they say has diluted their influence.
Most nominees have been white and male. But those appearing Tuesday included one of the few black women Trump has nominated to the bench, Justice Ada E. Brown of the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals.
Nominees up for votes this week also include two Hispanics.
Judge Rodolfo Armando Ruiz, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is a former White & Case associate who now serves on the Florida Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
Raul M. Arias-Marxuach, nominated to the District of Puerto Rico, is a capital member with McConnell Valdes in San Juan, whose practice includes civil and commercial litigation.
Trump has appointed and the Senate has confirmed 37 appeals court judges, 58 district judges and the two high court justices.
The Senate has accelerated its confirmation of district judges since shortening the required time between the end of debate and the beginning of a confirmation vote.
Nominees up for confirmation this week also include:
- Alabama Solicitor General Andrew Lynn Brasher, nominated to the Middle District of Alabama;
- Texas Deputy Solicitor General J. Campbell Barker, nominated to the Eastern District of Texas; and
- Joshua Wolson, who was nominated to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and is now a partner at Dilworth Paxson LLP in Philadelphia.
Alliance for Justice, a progressive organization that has opposed many Trump nominees, described Brasher and Barker as having “dangerous records” on abortion, LGBT, and voting rights, in a tweet Tuesday.