Franken opposes Trump judicial nominee, setting up procedural clash
Source: Politico
By SEUNG MIN KIM 09/05/2017 03:24 PM EDT
Sen. Al Franken is preparing to block the nomination of one of President Donald Trump’s circuit court nominees — a move that will trigger a standoff in the Senate over a century-old tradition that gives senators significant leverage over home-state judicial candidates.
The Minnesota Democrat said in a statement Tuesday that he will not return a so-called blue slip for David Stras, who was nominated for a seat to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in May. Stras’ legal decisions, professional experience and past statements, Franken said, raised concerns that he would be a “conservative jurist in the mold of Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia” — which was enough for the senator to try to block his confirmation to the federal bench.
“Justice Stras’s professional background and record strongly suggest that, if confirmed, he would embrace the legacy of his role models and reliably rule in favor of powerful corporate interests over working people, and that he would place a high bar before plaintiffs seeking justice at work, at school, and at the ballot box,” Franken said in a lengthy statement outlining his opposition to Stras. “The president should be seeking out judges who bridge the issues that divide us, but I fear that Justice Stras’s views and philosophy would lead him to reinforce those divisions and steer the already conservative Eighth Circuit even further to the right.”
Franken also took aim at the process by which Stras — who currently sits on the Minnesota Supreme Court — was selected. He argued that the White House had already settled on Stras before consulting with Franken about the vacancy.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/05/al-franken-opposes-david-stras-242340?lo=ap_a1
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