The Atlantic

Trump's Formidable Judicial-Appointment Machine Starts to Sputter

The president’s ability to get confirmations to the bench has been his brightest spot, but this week saw two nominees withdraw and a third humiliated by a Republican senator.
Source: Joshua Roberts / Reuters

For a presidency beset by problems of policy and politics at home and abroad, judicial appointments have been a rare bright spot for the Donald Trump administration. Any list of the White House’s biggest achievements begins (and arguably ends) with his successful appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, a placement that will likely reshape jurisprudence for decades, and below that come a huge number of appointments to lifetime seats on lower courts.

This week, even that began to look a little shaky. Two picks for district courts withdrew their nominations

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