McConnell rolls over Murray, Cantwell on Trump court appointment

A former law clerk for conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday won Senate confirmation to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, despite furious opposition from his home state Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

Eric Miller is the first federal appellate court judge in more than a century not to receive a "blue chip" of approval from at least one of the nominee's home state senators.

The Senate voted 53-46 along party lines to confirm Miller.

The 9th Circuit is Donald Trump's least favorite judicial body, recently described by the President as "a complete and total disaster. It is out of control and has a horrible reputation."

The San Francisco-based court ruled in favor of Washington's legal challenge to Trump's first Muslim travel ban. The President has since nominated three new judges to the 30-member court. Miller is slated to replace Judge Richard Tallman, who decided last year to take senior status on the bench.

Tallman, a Clinton appointee, is known for swearing in hundreds of new U.S. citizens at the Seattle Center each Fourth of July.

Cantwell, in a Senate speech Tuesday, said: "Since 1936, only eight judges have been confirmed when one home-state senator objected. And in every case, confirmed nominees have been supported by at least one senator from the state they have been nominated from.

"He (Miller) has argued against tribal fishing rights, challenging tribal sovereignty and fighting against the protection of Native American religious and tribal practices."

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/McConnell-rolls-over-Murray-Cantwell-on-Trump-13647364.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletterspi&utm_term=spi

In other words he's a racist.