Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, as a member of the Bar Association of Delaware, and a Member of the U.S. Senate. I am concerned about the transformation of our Federal judiciary under this current administration. I am particularly concerned about rising issues around qualification and competency. Let me speak to that, if I might, for a few minutes.
This Senate is doing precious little in terms of legislating, but we are moving at a breakneck pace to confirm President Trump's judicial nominees--roughly, 150 so far. During the entire 8 years of the previous administration, 55 circuit court judges were confirmed. Nearly that same number have been confirmed in just 3 years of the Trump administration--48. Nearly one in seven of all U.S. district court judges currently serving have been appointed by President Trump.
I am deeply concerned about the quality of some of these nominations. Some have never taken a deposition, argued a motion, let alone tried a case in court. The American Bar Association, the professional association of lawyers, has ranked nine of President Trump's nominees as ``not qualified,'' which is an exceptionally unusual and striking step for them to take.
This isn't about whether the President's nominees are conservative or not. I understand that elections have consequences and that a Republican President will more often than not nominate conservative judges. I have, in some cases, joined my Democratic colleagues in supporting qualified nominees put forward by the administration who have won support from their home State Senators and advanced through a bipartisan judicial nomination and confirmation process in our committee, but let's be clear. I will not stand by while this administration rams through nominees who are not just Republican and not just conservative but demonstrably unqualified.
I can't support nominees with deeply concerning records about their commitment to justice and to advancing a commonsense juris prudence. I am not going to set a standard any lower than what has been required in previous administrations to serve on the Federal bench for many, many years.
We have heard in this Chamber and around this country that the quality of the Federal bench and the capabilities and the experience and the values and the judgment of those who serve on Federal benches across this country is an absolutely essential piece of our Constitution and our ordered liberty. The cases that come before Federal courts are too important to tolerate incompetence, inexperience, or bias in the Federal judiciary.
Why does this matter both in terms of the process and the substance? The President has put forward nominees who, in my view, would take us backward on civil rights and voting rights, on women's access to healthcare, on laws that protect consumers and workers, and on the environment. Their decisions impact every American. Equally concerning is that Trump's nominees don't reflect the diversity of our Nation. We want litigants to go into a court and be able to have their day in court and be confident that the judge before them represents the breadth and range of America.
So far, of the 55 circuit court nominees confirmed, only 11 have been women, and they have been even less racially diverse. Of all of President Trump's nominees, 87 percent are White and 78 percent are men. I think the judiciary should reflect the diversity of the American people and have strong records and a wealth of experience. Sadly, that is not the case for several we have considered, and let me briefly speak to two.
President Trump's nominee to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who was recently confirmed, Lawrence VanDyke, raised serious concerns about his work ethic and his temperament. He was rated ``not qualified'' by the ABA based on concerns about his lack of knowledge of basic procedural rules and his commitment to being truthful. Six retired justices of the Montana Supreme Court questioned his fitness when he ran for the Supreme Court in Montana and expressed concerns about his partisanship and the possibility of corporate influence. He is opposed to basic civil rights and civil liberties for the LGBTQ community and made a range of statements that I think would be disqualifying under any circumstance.
Sarah Pitlyk, who this Senate just confirmed this week to a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, has never tried a case, either criminal or civil, has never taken a deposition, has never examined a witness, and has never argued a motion in Federal or State court. The ABA unanimously rated her as ``unqualified'' for a lifetime seat in the Federal judiciary.
We can and we should do better than this. Of the entire bar of the State of Missouri, I am certain there are qualified, capable, and seasoned conservatives who could have been nominated for that seat in the entire Ninth Circuit. In particular, the State for which Mr. VanDyke was nominated, there are certainly abundant opportunities to choose qualified nominees. We can and we should do better than this.
In my State of Delaware, my senior Senator, Tom Carper, and I worked together to help form a bipartisan judicial nominating committee to fill two vacancies on our district court. We felt strongly we had to reach out to the White House and work with them to identify consensus nominees who would be the best candidates we could best support and whom the President could nominate. Ultimately, we had a very productive process, and the President nominated Maryellen Noreika and Colm Connolly, whom we both returned positive blue slips for. They ultimately have been confirmed by this Senate, seated, and now serve in our district court. This is how the process should work.
We should be able to consult back and forth between the executive and legislative until we find competent, capable, and qualified judges of whom we can all be proud of. The Senate should not be a rubberstamp for this administration, regardless of the quality of nominees that get sent forward.
I will continue to oppose President Trump's nominees who are undeserving of a seat on the Federal bench and unqualified to serve. It is, in my view, our responsibility to guard against the politicization of the Federal judiciary, and we should work together, not to tear down and destroy the traditions and rules of this Senate but to find ways to strengthen and sustain them. That is how we will move qualified and consensus nominees forward and protect the independent judiciary on which our very democracy rests.
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