Government

Trump Just Opened Up ANOTHER Seat On The Fifth Circuit

Problem: the administration doesn't have enough ambassadors. Solution: start sending federal judges and nominating their replacements.

By  
on

This White House may not have even the vaguest clue what it’s policy is from minute to minute, but it’s laser-focused on packing the federal courts with ideologues from the Federalist Society vaults. Sure they’ve suffered a few setbacks, with unqualified ghost hunters and wackos with Satan fetishes, but when given an opportunity to right the ship, this administration has doubled down. Just today, Senators are evaluating Thomas Farr, who — a former federal prosecutor claims — misled the Senate about his involvement in voter suppression efforts. Good times.

But this is what happens when there’s a backlog of openings created by years of blocking the last president’s picks. The vacant shell of the federal judiciary becomes an inviting home for all manner of bottom-feeding crustaceans. Preferably bottom-feeders under the age of 50.

However, the Trump administration deserves a lot of credit for its latest move. Unsatisfied with the over 100 vacancies on the federal bench it inherited, they’re going out and creating new holes to fill!

Yesterday, the White House announced that the Fifth Circuit’s Judge Edward Prado will be nominated to serve as Ambassador to Argentina. Judge Prado’s a competent Republican jurist with a delightfully snarky streak. But he’s also 70 and an old-guard, mainstream conservative, who was once backed by Democrats as an acceptably bipartisan Supreme Court nominee for George W. Bush. That means he’s too dangerously geriatric and far, far too reasonable for Republicans keen to replace him with some 28-year-old who wrote the college thesis “The Thirteenth Amendment: A Critical Analysis Of Why The Cucks Forced It On America.”

Prado was rumored to have been thinking of leaving active status on the Fifth Circuit for quite some time. The allure of an ambassadorship might have been just enough to tip the scales.

The naked opportunism is as transparent as it is brilliant. Nothing in Judge Prado’s experience — beyond just being a smart guy — suggests he’s prepared for a diplomatic post to a key South American economy. Except, of course, the fact that he speaks Spanish, a qualification that has to make you wonder if this is just the only way Trump can think of to functionally deport Prado.

Putting that possibility aside, this is a tactic that should pick up over the coming months. To date, the administration has been as lazy in selecting ambassadors as they’ve been aggressive in naming jurists. America has a lot of cushy posts and a lot of aging Reaganauts on the bench.

Sponsored

Expect more than a few of them to be heading overseas.

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Edward C. Prado to be Ambassador to the Argentine Republic [White House]

Earlier: Do Trump’s Judicial Renominations Signal A Strategic Pivot?

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

Sponsored

Topics

, , , ,