Flake to harass GOP one more time on judicial nominees
by Susan Ferrechio
| November 24, 2018 12:00 AM
Senate Republicans next week will kick off an end-of-year push to confirm President Trump’s judicial nominations, one that could be thwarted by outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.
An early test of how big or little an obstacle Flake will be is Thomas Farr, who Republicans want to seat on the federal bench in North Carolina’s Eastern District.
Farr won party-line confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee in January to serve as a district court judge, but his nomination has been broadly opposed by Democrats and civil rights groups who cite his work defending North Carolina’s voter ID law, which was invalidated by a federal court for suppressing black votes. Farr is also disliked by Democrats and civil rights organizations over other items on his resume, including his role as lawyer for the late Sen. Jesse Helms, the North Carolina Democrat-turned-Republican who opposed civil rights legislation, access to abortion, and what he called the "homosexual agenda."
Flake could make it even harder. Earlier this month, Flake said he would withhold his votes to confirm judges in an effort to force a Senate vote on a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged ties between Russians and Trump’s presidential campaign.
“I have informed the Majority Leader that I will not vote to advance any of the 21 judicial nominees pending in the Judiciary Committee, or vote to confirm the 32 judges awaiting action on the floor, until the Mueller protection bill is brought to the full Senate for a vote,†Flake, who is retiring, announced on Nov. 14.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/jeff-flake-to-harass-gop-one-more-time-on-judicial-nominees
