Senate Republicans Get Ready to Appoint Judges While Impeachment Fight Rages

Kevin Daley

Politics, Americas

Will the Democrats be too distracted to fight?

As House Democrats moved forward with an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee convened confirmation hearings for five judicial nominees.

• Wednesday’s candidates include two appeals court nominees and three trial court nominees.

• Sarah Pitlyk, a trial court nominee who litigated for pro-life groups and clerked for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, bore the brunt of Democratic criticism at the hearing. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee held confirmation hearings for five of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees Wednesday, even as news of the president’s prospective impeachment subsumed much of Washington.

Wednesday’s orderly proceedings were mostly uneventful, a marked contrast with the political posturing and fervid speculation that attended the White House’s release of a detailed readout of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The candidates present at Wednesday’s hearing included appeals court nominees Danielle Hunsaker and William Nardini and trial court nominees Jodi Dishman, Sarah Pitlyk and Daniel Traynor.

Neither Hunsaker nor Nardini attracted obvious opposition from Democrats. Trump nominated Hunsaker for an Oregon seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A bipartisan selection committee recommended Hunsaker and three other candidates to Oregon Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, who in turn sent the list to the White House. The lawmakers cautioned that they were not endorsing any particular candidate.

Hunsaker was an attorney in private practice prior to her appointment to the Washington County Circuit Court and clerked for 9th Circuit Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, who she would succeed if confirmed. She spoke highly of O’Scannlain, a conservative standout on the left-leaning 9th Circuit.

“Judge O’Scannlain is someone that I admire a great deal,” Hunsaker said. “I admired him before I ever graduated from law school. Serving as his law clerk was a highlight for me in my life and the prospect of trying to fill his shoes is daunting.”