Say what you will about the blue slip process for nominating federal judges, but the Trump administration’s doing away with the longstanding process has not been met with acclaim in liberal political circles. So when David Porter was pushed forward as a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit — without the all clear from democratic senator Bob Casey — you could probably imagine he’d be pissed.
Casey fancies himself as a middle-of-the-road, pragmatic kind of senator. But Porter is so far out of the mainstream, that not only did Casey withhold the blue slip, he also went on Twitter to express his outrage at the nomination. If Twitter is good enough for the President to issue official changes in policy on, it’s certainly good enough for Casey to vent on.
Behold the senatorial ire:
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David Porter has no judicial experience so one of the only ways to assess his fitness for the second highest court in the nation, the U.S. Court of Appeals, is through his writings.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
His published works reveal an ideology that will serve only the wealthy and powerful as opposed to protecting the rights of all Americans. Mr. Porter has argued against the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which has guaranteed civil rights protections to millions of Americans.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
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He has also praised a ruling that sought to overturn portions of the Violence Against Women Act. Our courts must be guardians of civil rights, of our values and of basic protections for workers.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
My bipartisan work to recommend highly qualified individuals to the federal bench, both Republicans and Democrats, including five individuals nominated to the District Court in Pennsylvania by this Administration, is second to none.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
I have worked in good faith to move forward mainstream nominees whose judicial philosophy I disagreed with, including this Administration’s nominee for a Third Circuit seat in Philadelphia.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
Instead of working in a bipartisan fashion to put mainstream individuals on the bench, this Administration and the Senate Majority Leader are demanding that the Senate confirm judicial nominees who advocate a hard-right ideology to appease their corporate donors.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
As a Senator representing more than 12 million Pennsylvanians, I refuse to be a rubber stamp for the extreme right.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
Mr. Porter has spent his career advocating an ideology that puts special interests, big corporations and those at the top ahead of Pennsylvania families. I urge my colleagues to reject this nomination.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) June 6, 2018
Casey is far from the only senator who doesn’t want to see Porter become a federal judge. During Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) took him to task for his association with a group committed to stopping Sonia Sotomayor’s ascension to the Supreme Court — one Porter derides as amounting to little more than a brief phone call — as well as his efforts to stack the federal judiciary with right-wing judges, as Biglaw Business reports:
Porter has been a “leader in the right wing strategy to stack the federal courts” with like-minded judges, and he helped co-found the Pennsylvania Judicial Network in 2009, Feinstein said.
And it probably won’t surprise you, but Porter refused to say whether he agreed with Brown v. Board of Education.
Despite the concerns, Porter is expected to be confirmed.
Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).