Senate Moves to Confirm Trump Nominee for Crucial 9th Circuit

Eric Miller, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is heading for confirmation by the U.S. Senate as the first such nominee ever to gain approval without a home-state senator’s blue slip. In a Feb. 26 statement headlined “Senate to Confirm Impressive Nominee for Ninth Circuit,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) described Miller as having a “distinguished record in both public service and private practice.” McConnell also noted that Miller “holds degrees from Harvard and the University of Chicago. And his legal experience includes prestigious clerkships on our nation’s highest courts.”

Miller clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and oversees the appellate practice group for the Perkins & Coie firm in Seattle. He has argued 10 cases before the nation’s highest court. The Senate voted 51–46 late Feb. 25 to end debate on Miller’s nomination. McConnell is expected to schedule the final vote later this week. Before the cloture vote, McConnell said Miller’s record “reflects a legal mind of the highest caliber,” but neither of Washington state’s senators—Democrats Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell—supported the nominee. If Miller is confirmed, he will be the first appeals court judge to ascend to the high court without blue slip approvals from the senators who represent his home state. Murray complained prior to the cloture vote that Trump was trying to “steam roll” Miller’s nomination.

Former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) stopped honoring blue slips for Supreme Court and federal appeals court nominations in 2017 in an effort to end Democratic delays in processing confirmations. Previously, under Grassley, some nominees had been approved with only a single home-state senator’s blue slip.

The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit has been a liberal bastion in the federal judiciary for decades, with 30 sitting members when at full complement. The circuit has been a deeply entrenched thorn in Trump’s side throughout his tenure in the Oval Office, regularly ruling against his efforts to strengthen U.S. immigration and border controls.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/senate-moves-to-confirm-trump-nominee-for-crucial-ninth-circuit_2816488.html