Fans of constitutional originalism, basic civics and good-humored Twitter accounts got a big win last evening, as former Texas Supreme Court justice Don Willett was confirmed to the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals. His elevation to that job was a superb decision by President Trump, as Willett’s strong professional reputation and personal likability have won him many admirers over the years — even if hapless, faux-outraged Democrats want to pretend otherwise. The left-leaning American Bar Association unanimously assessed him as ‘well qualified’ to serve in the federal judiciary, their highest possible rating. But that didn’t stop Senate Democrats from doing everything they could to block a vote on his nomination before voting in lockstep against his confirmation:
Cloture vote on @JusticeWillett was 50-48, moves on to confirmation. There is no reason for that level of hostility to this nomination of a well-qualified candidate except pure partisan spite. Democrats should be ashamed of themselves.
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) December 12, 2017
????Willett confirmed! But “moderate” Dems from Trump states (Heitkamp, McCaskill, etc.) join Schumer/Warren in baseless, lockstep, hard-left opposition. https://t.co/vxGJysj3Bd
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) December 13, 2017
If you look at the final roll call vote, not a single Democrat voted in favor of Willett’s nomination. Embarrassing. That list includes “moderates” like Joe Manchin from West Virginia, Joe Donnelley from Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota, Jon Tester from Montana, Claire McCaskill from Missouri, and the rest of them. Each of the five I just name-checked are running for re-election next year in states carried heavily by Trump. They all claim to be independent from their left-wing party, and profess a desire to work across party lines, even with the president. And yet they were reliable votes in favor of all of President Obama’s liberal nominees, whereas they routinely salute Chuck Schumer and vote ‘no’ on Trump’s picks. They pretend to be pro-second amendment politicians, then they vote against judges who’d uphold the right to bear arms, having rubber-stamped jurists who wouldn’t. Recall that modern Second Amendment jurisprudence hangs by a 5-4 thread, despite the clear wording of the Constitution. Swing voters in those red states must be made aware of these votes, and it’s up to Republicans to prosecute the case.
By the way, I don’t believe that Democrats — or Republicans, for that matter — should feel obliged to vote for every single judicial nominee put forward by the president. Indeed, a handful who appear unqualified (at least at this stage of their careers) have rightly withdrawn their names from consideration after GOP members raised concerns. If those nominees have made it to a floor vote, I wouldn’t pound the table about Democrats voting unanimously against them, or even raising a stink over it. Vetting for qualification and character is the role of the upper chamber. But well-qualified nominees shouldn’t be reflexively opposed on party lines (numerous Republican Senators voted for quite a few Obama selections), and maneuvers like judicial filibusters should have been used very sparingly before being jettisoned. Republicans declined to filibuster nearly any of Obama’s picks, (including two liberal SCOTUS nominees), but Democrats abused that tool, engaging in unilateral escalations throughout the judicial wars until Republicans had no choice but to detonate their own tactics against them. Their escalations have continued, and so has GOP hardball. This is the legacy of Harry Reid. Speaking of which, with the Reid Rule firmly in place, President Trump is fast approaching a new record…
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That piece was published earlier in the week. Since then, Grasz and Willett have been approved, and cloture has been invoked on Ho, with confirmation pending. Harry Reid’s Democrats changed the game when they nuked the obstructionist tactic they’d pioneered during the Bush years (their excuses fail), then mounted an unprecedentedpartisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. They paved the way for Trump and McConnell’s breakneck confirmation clip — with more work to be accomplished.
