[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 5, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1640-S1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Nomination of Allison Jones Rushing

  Mr. President, we have three judges before us on the floor of the 
Senate this week. It turns out that the filling of judicial vacancies 
is the highest single priority of the Republican leadership in the 
Senate.
  Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, has gone to 
extraordinary, precedent-breaking lengths to fill vacancies. Of course, 
the most notorious example was when Senator McConnell, then in charge 
of the Republican majority, announced that despite the death of Justice 
Scalia and a vacancy on the highest court of the land, he would refuse 
to fill that vacancy for almost 1 year because President Obama was in 
office.
  The man President Obama wanted to put in that position, Merrick 
Garland from the D.C. Circuit Court, was widely respected by Democrats 
and Republicans alike, but his qualifications meant nothing to Senator 
McConnell. The end game, in his mind, was the chance that a Republican 
President might be elected and fill that vacancy with a Republican 
nominee.
  Well, Senator McConnell's dream came true when Donald Trump was 
elected President, and he turned around and nominated Justice Gorsuch, 
who now serves on the Supreme Court, filling the Scalia vacancy. That 
was the most extreme example that we have, in the history of the U.S. 
Senate, of the defiance of tradition and precedent, a defiance by 
Senator McConnell with one goal in mind: to make sure that the judicial 
branch of our government became a political branch of our government, 
to make sure that as many Republican conservatives, some with the most 
extreme views, were appointed to the bench. That has been his goal, and 
he pursues that goal to this day.
  There are three nominations before us that amply demonstrate his 
efforts. When Donald Trump became President, Senate Republicans stopped 
their obstruction of judicial nominations and started moving 
nominations through at a breakneck speed.
  During the last 2 years, Republicans in the Senate bragged about 
filling the courts with Trump nominees at record pace. The Republican 
philosophy, when it comes to Trump judges, seems to be, in Senator 
McConnell's words, ``plow right through'' no matter how questionable 
the nominee's credentials or judgment.
  There are three more confirmation votes scheduled this week. Let me 
tell you about these nominees whom they want to put on the court.
  Allison Jones Rushing is President Trump's nominee to fill a North 
Carolina seat on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. For those who are 
students of the Constitution, you know that the circuit court of 
appeals is the highest court below the Supreme Court.
  Allison Jones Rushing checks a lot of the standard Trump nominee 
boxes. She is a member of the Federalist Society, an absolute 
requirement if Trump is going to nominate you for a lifetime 
appointment to the Federal bench, and--this is a recurring theme as 
well--she clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
  She is 36 years old. She has practiced law for 9 years. How many 
cases has she tried to verdict or judgment? Four. Has she been the lead 
attorney on any of those cases? No. She is not a member of the bar 
association of the State of North Carolina, the State in which she 
would sit if she is confirmed. That is the most scant, weakest legal 
resume imaginable for someone who is seeking a lifetime appointment to 
the second highest court of the land.
  At our hearing--which, by the way, was held during a Senate recess 
over the objection of committee Democrats; we weren't even in town when 
her hearing was scheduled--Senator Kennedy of Louisiana, who is 
becoming famous for this, started questioning her about her breadth of 
legal experience.
  Senator Kennedy is a real lawyer. On the Republican side, he has put 
some of Trump's nominees on the spot by asking them some pretty tough 
questions about legal procedure in a courtroom.
  Senator Kennedy said: ``I think, to be a really good federal judge, 
you've got to have some life experience.'' Ms. Rushing struggled to 
describe how her life experience actually prepared her for this 
lifetime appointment to the second highest Federal court.
  Senator Kennedy made a valid point. The fact that a judicial nominee 
meets all of the litmus tests of being a loyal Republican doesn't mean 
the nominee has the experience or the legal ability to be a good 
Federal judge. It is inconceivable to me that in the State of North 
Carolina, they couldn't find a qualified and experienced conservative 
Republican judge.
  The Federal circuit courts are critically important. Since the vast 
majority of cases don't reach the Supreme Court, the circuit courts are 
often the last word. This is a position where experience matters, and, 
unfortunately, Ms. Rushing doesn't have enough of it. I am going to 
oppose her.

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