Flying Under Radar of Trump Chaos, GOP Set to Confirm Slew of 'Extremist' Judges

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

In an under-discussed push to "reshape the courts in Donald Trump's image for decades to come," the Senate this week is quietly gearing up to confirm a slew of federal judges who critics say have records littered with "breathtaking hostility toward civil rights and equal justice."

The packed week of hearings began on Tuesday, when three Senate Democrats—Tim Kaine (Va.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), and Joe Donnelly (Ind.)—joined their Republican colleagues in voting to confirm circuit court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who has in the past called the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision "erroneous" and suggested that Obamacare's employer birth control mandate amounted to "an assault on religious liberty."

To read more of the reason that the GOP tolerates Trump's behavior:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/01/flying-under-radar-trump-chaos-gop-set-confirm-slew-extremist-judges?

[guillaumeb]

1. Much outrage about Trump's latest tweets, and the outrage is warranted,

but one of the real goals of the GOP is to pack the Courts at the Appellate and Supreme Court levels so they can be assured of conservative rulings on a variety of issues for the next generation or two.

[LonePirate]

2. This is one area where this administration has been wildly successful.

Pence and McConnell have been working overtime to find, nominate and confirm legions of right wing extremists to the federal judiciary. 45 is simply the figurehead signing the nomination paperwork.

[guillaumeb]

3. Exactly. Possibly the main reason that the GOP tolerates Trump's behavior.

If he is removed, impeached, or resigns, Pence will continue the work of remaking the Judiciary.

[maxrandb]

4. Elections have Fucking consequences

But let's talk more about Hillary and the DNC

[guillaumeb]

5. Almost a default topic.

Or a finding fault topic, if you will.

[Jim Lane]

6. Donnelly and Manchin aren't all that surprising, but Kaine on the list is a real disappointment. n/t

[guillaumeb]

7. I feel that all 3 are a disappointment,

but that leads to the argument of people holding local positions and supporting these local positions.

[Jim Lane]

8. I just don't expect all that much from Manchin.

He voted to confirm Gorsuch, for example.

If you mean that Kaine may have been influenced by some local consideration, I agree. I was very surprised that, on the vote to overturn the CFPB rule against compulsory arbitration, the two Republican defectors were Graham and Kennedy, while the Republican Senators who blocked the ACA repeal all went along with overturning the CFPB rule. Like Kaine's vote, it's a reminder that legislators generally line up on a left-right continuum but the fit isn't perfect.