Senate Confirmed 13 Trump-Nominated Judges as Democratic Candidates Debated in Detroit

President Donald Trump speaks prior to signing HR 1327, an act to permanently authorize the September 11th victim compensation fund, during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 29, 2019. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

The Senate confirmed 13 judges nominated by President Donald Trump on July 30 and July 31 as Democratic presidential candidates, including multiple Senators, gathered in Detroit for presidential debates.

Four judges were confirmed on Tuesday and nine more were confirmed on Wednesday, according to the Senate.

The most votes against one of the judges was 40 as Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) were among the Democratic candidates attending the debates.

Three of the confirmations were by voice vote.

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell arrive for the Senate Republican policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 15, 2018. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

“For too long fairly uncontroversial judicial nominees just like these have been held up and delayed by our Democratic colleagues even when the vacancy qualifies as a judicial emergency,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said from the Senate floor ahead of the votes on Wednesday, reported The Hill. “Uncontroversial district judges used to be confirmed promptly in big groups by voice vote.”

McConnell and Trump have made replenishing the judiciary with conservative-minded nominees a priority, and one group of voters who voted for the president in 2016 said they did so with an eye on judicial nominations, particularly in the Supreme Court, according to the book, “The Great Revolt.”

The Senate has confirmed more than 100 nominees since 2017, including two to the Supreme Court—Judges Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. Republicans held onto the Senate majority in the 2018 midterms, extending a 51-49 majority to 53-47.

Brett Kavanaugh (L) is sworn in as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by retired Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy (R) before wife Ashley Estes Kavanaugh (2nd-R), daughters Margaret (2nd-L) and Elizabeth (C), and President Donald Trump at the White House on Oct. 8, 2018. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Republicans wanted to confirm six other judges this week before the Senate recessed, but now plan to confirm those judges when the body returns to Washington in September.

The judges confirmed on Tuesday were: Michael Liburdi to the District of Arizona, Peter Welte to the District of North Dakota, James Wesley Hendrix to the Northern District of Texas, and Sean Jordan to the Eastern District of Texas.

The judges confirmed on Wednesday were: Mark Pittman to the Northern District of Texas, Jeffrey Brown to the Southern District of Texas, Brantley Starr to the Northern District of Texas, Martha Pacold to the Northern District of Illinois, Jason Pulliam to the Western District of Texas, William Stickman IV to be the Western District of Pennsylvania, Karin Immergut for the District of Oregon, John Milton Younge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Mary Rowland for the Northern District of Illinois.

The Senate also made other confirmations, including Kelly Craft as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump took to Twitter Thursday to congratulate Craft on her confirmation.

“Congratulations to Kelly Knight Craft of #Kentucky on her confirmation as United Nations Ambassador,” he wrote.

“After having served so admirably as Ambassador to Canada, & having done an outstanding job no matter how difficult the task, Kelly will be fantastic at the United Nations. Winner!”

From NTD News