McConnell's focus when Senate comes back will be judges, not coronavirus
The move by the Senate majority leader raises objections from Democrats.
April 29, 2020, 7:00 AM EDT
By Leigh Ann Caldwell
WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to return to Washington next week, the focus will be not on the coronavirus but instead on judicial nominations that have long been a priority for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — one that has been sidelined in recent weeks as Congress has scrambled to react to the pandemic.
McConnell's decision to bring the Senate back to Washington with no immediate plans to take up additional coronavirus relief legislation has left some members uneasy about traveling when stay-at-home orders remain intact in most states and the congressional attending physician recommends that Congress stay away for now.
But McConnell, R-Ky., has said the pandemic isn't going to get in the way of confirming judges, telling a conservative radio host recently that his "motto" for this year is "leave no vacancy behind."
And he is particularly focused on two controversial appeals court nominees who, if confirmed, would leave no more vacancies on the circuit court level.
One of the nominees, U.S. District Judge Justin Walker of Kentucky, who is up for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, is a McConnell protégé who clerked for then-Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and then-appeals judge Brett Kavanaugh. He was a vocal defender of Kavanaugh during Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Walker's confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee is slated for Tuesday, one of the first orders of business when the Senate returns, according to a Republican familiar with committee plans that haven't yet been officially announced.
Democrats are challenging McConnell's decision to reconvene next week. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York sent a letter arguing that the Senate should come back only to consider coronavirus legislation and to conduct oversight of the rescue programs.
"If we are going to be in D.C. with the coronavirus raging, it is critically important that we continue and actually ramp up our messaging and activities on the oversight front," Schumer told Democratic senators on a conference call Tuesday, according to an aide on the call. "We must hold the administration accountable for the mistakes they are making on the small-business program, hospitals, testing and more."
"It's a dangerous move that achieves nothing," a Democratic aide said of McConnell's decision to call the Senate back. "It would be one thing if this were necessary to addressing the crisis and help people, but it's not about that."
Privately, even some Senate Republicans are voicing frustration with McConnell's bringing the Senate back with only judges on the immediate agenda.
He has helped usher through the confirmations of a record number of judges — 193 — during Trump's presidency, including two Supreme Court justices and 51 circuit judges. By comparison, the Senate confirmed only 55 circuit judges in all eight years of Barack Obama's presidency.
McConnell hasn't just helped to reshape the judiciary with conservative lifetime appointments. It has also been a successful political tactic — he has credited his decision not to hold hearings on an Obama Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, with Trump's victory in 2016.
more:
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mcconnell-s-focus-when-senate-comes-back-will-be-judges-n1194776
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