[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 193 (Tuesday, November 28, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NOMINATION OF GREGORY KATSAS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Finally and briefly, Mr. President, because I know my 
colleagues are waiting, on the Katsas nomination, the DC Circuit is 
often called the second most powerful court in the Nation because it 
adjudicates so many highly charged political issues, including cases 
that deal with the limits of Executive power and regulations issued by 
Federal agencies. As examples, major cases on climate regulations, the 
CFPB, and gun safety laws in the District of Columbia are now before 
that court. On such a court, we should prize independence and 
moderation and look warily at candidates with highly political 
backgrounds.
  Unfortunately, Gregory Katsas has been intimately involved in a 
number of the most partisan and legally dubious Executive orders of the 
current administration. He was involved in the President's 
controversial travel ban, his decisions to terminate DACA, to end 
transgender service in the military, and to establish an election 
integrity commission based on the lie that 3.5 million people voted 
illegally in the last election.
  His tenure and views in the Trump administration raise important 
questions about his independence and moderation, particularly on a 
court that will likely hear cases related to the very same issues he 
worked on in the White House. He appears to be another example of the 
Republican majority pushing judges from a political extreme of their 
party as a way of advancing their interests in lieu of a legislative 
agenda, which has floundered.
  I will vote no on his nomination and urge all of my colleagues to do 
the same.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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