DC: The Senate confirmed Neomi Rao to succeed Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit early Wednesday afternoon.
The 53-46 vote followed party lines. Rao overcame Democrats who opposed her nomination in view of opinion pieces she wrote for a college newspaper as an undergraduate at Yale and social conservatives who expressed misgivings about her views on social issues.
“Neomi Rao’s experience and intellect make her uniquely qualified to fill Justice Kavanaugh’s shoes on the D.C. Circuit,” Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network, said in a statement. “Rao will fairly apply the law and honor the Constitution; she’ll be a phenomenal judge serving on one of our nation’s highest courts.”
The D.C. Circuit is often styled the second most powerful court in the nation because its docket encompasses high-profile regulatory and separation of powers disputes. The court is also something of a farm team for the Supreme Court: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Kavanaugh served on the D.C. Circuit prior to their elevation.
Rao is the eighth Thomas clerk confirmed to the federal bench since President Donald Trump took office.
As a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, Rao founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative and developed a reputation as a leading authority on regulatory issues. She served as the Trump administration’s deregulatory tzar prior to her nomination. more
Like Kavanaugh she’s just vague enough to be a major disappointment at some point when needed most. I feel comfortable that Kavanaugh will let us down in the same way as Roberts.
All nominees have to voice agreement with all of the progressive positions before conformation. “Roe v. Wade is settled law.”