[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 119 (Thursday, July 10, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S4302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Judicial Nominations

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, on Tuesday evening, I filed cloture on 
the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer, of Tennessee, to be U.S. 
circuit judge for the Sixth Circuit, the first of President Trump's 
judicial nominees that we will consider this month.
  I am excited that the White House has started sending over judicial 
nominations and eager to get to floor confirmation of Trump's nominees.
  One of the great achievements of President Trump's first term was the 
confirmation of some 234 judges to the Federal bench. At the start of 
the first Trump administration, the President and Congress were faced 
with well over 100 openings in the judiciary, a daunting number but an 
incredible opportunity to shape the Federal bench.
  The administration got right to work on identifying good judicial 
candidates, and Leader McConnell determined that we were going to fill 
those slots and others that would open up--and not just fill them, of 
course. The President and Leader McConnell and then-Senate Judiciary 
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley were determined to fill them with the 
right kind of judges, judges who would faithfully interpret the law, 
not attempt to legislate from the bench.
  Our interest was in putting judges on the bench who would look at the 
law, the Constitution, and the facts of the case and rule based on 
those criteria and nothing else. That might seem like an obvious goal 
for judicial nominations, but, unfortunately, that is not always the 
case. In fact, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle frequently 
seem to prefer another kind of judge, the kind of judge who will rule 
in line with Democrats' policy preferences, even when the law doesn't 
support them.
  You only have to look at Democrats' attempts to politicize and 
delegitimize the Supreme Court for daring to occasionally rule against 
Democrats' preferred outcomes to realize that Democrats aren't 
interested in judges who will rule according to law; they are 
interested in judges who will rule according to the platform of the 
Democratic Party. That is a very dangerous thing.
  Our system is based on a belief in the rule of law. In the American 
system, the law is supposed to be the final, impartial arbiter. Cases 
are to be decided based on what the law says, not on what a particular 
judge feels. Sure, it might seem nice when an activist judge goes 
outside the meaning of the law and rules for your preferred outcome. 
But what happens when that same judge reaches beyond the law to your 
detriment? What protection do you have if the law is no longer the 
highest authority?
  Equal justice under the law can only be maintained as long as judges 
actually rule based on the law and not on their personal feelings or 
political opinions. An activist judiciary is a threat to justice, it is 
a threat to the separation of powers, and it is a threat to individual 
liberty.
  And one of the things I am proudest of in the first Trump 
administration is the number of judges we put on the bench who 
understand this--who understand that our system depends on the rule of 
law, not the rule of unelected judges; who understand that their job is 
to interpret the law, not usurp the job of the people's elected 
representatives by legislating from the bench.
  We are not facing the number of judicial vacancies this Congress that 
we faced during President Trump's first term. There are currently only 
around 50 vacancies on the Federal bench. So our job now is to continue 
the good work that we began during the first Trump administration by 
filling those vacancies with more judges who understand the proper role 
of a judge, and that starts with confirming Ms. Hermandorfer.
  I am grateful to Leader McConnell and Judiciary Chairman Chuck 
Grassley and to Lindsey Graham for their incredible efforts during 
President Trump's first term, and I am grateful to President Trump for 
the caliber of judges he has nominated and continues to nominate to the 
bench. I look forward to working with President Trump and Chairman 
Grassley to confirm more outstanding judges during this Congress.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.