With the Senate’s impeachment trial over and President Trump’s acquittal in the books, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling he’s ready to get back to business.
The judicial confirmation business, that is.
The Hill reported yesterday that McConnell wasted precious little time after events unfolded Wednesday afternoon “teeing up” five more of Trump’s nominees for consideration:
McConnell teed up five judicial nominations for votes on the Senate floor as the chamber wrapped up its work for the week.
The Senate is expected to take its first procedural vote on the slate Monday evening, when Republicans will need a simple majority to end the debate on Andrew Brasher’s nomination to be a judge on the 11th Circuit.
Once Brasher is confirmed, the Senate will turn to the nominations of Joshua Kindred, Matthew Schelp, Joshua Kness and Philip Halpern, all of whom have been picked to be U.S. district judges.
The Senate could easily fit all five nominations into its schedule for next week.
Per The Hill, assuming the next five nominees are approved by the Senate, that will make a staggering 192 judges confirmed since Trump was sworn into office in 2017.
To be sure, McConnell’s Senate churned out confirmations at a record-setting pace even as the impeachment inquiry was taking place, and even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held on to the articles of impeachment in hopes of getting pre-trial concessions from the Senate.
But naturally as the impeachment trial got under way late last month in the Senate, judicial nominees had to be put on hold.
Not anymore:
Not even half an hour after the Senate voted to acquit President @realDonaldTrump of all charges, @SenateMajLdr was already getting back to work for the American people — more judges. https://t.co/mI5bNUskRe pic.twitter.com/zEyZuxyUBl
— Senate Republican Communications Center (@SRCC) February 6, 2020
Trump even took a few minutes during his celebratory presser today to give a shout out to McConnell for his work during the trial as well as for his outstanding judicial confirmations record:
I hope y’all are watching Trump right now. It’s something. As usual. He laid out what happened in the past 3 years in his view. Gushed over McConnell. Praising for 191 Federal judges getting through.
— Kathleen McKinley (@KatMcKinley) February 6, 2020
One major point to take from all this is that even if Trump happens to get defeated in November, his legacy – and that of Mitch McConnell’s – will continue on well into the future in very significant ways:
As Trump thanks McConnell for confirming a record-setting number of federal judges, know that McConnell has teed up votes on five more nominations. Long after Trump and McConnell are gone, their stamp on the federal judiciary will remain.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) February 6, 2020
‘Nuff said.
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