Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Donald Trump is nominating federal judges at a fast clip as part of a strategy aimed at putting more people on the bench dedicated to the Constitution.
"As of July 9, there were 153 federal judicial vacancies, for which President Trump has made 89 nominations," he said in a column posted on the Fox News website.
Gingrich noted the number does not reflect Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
"Further, there have been 42 Trump-nominated judges already confirmed to lifetime appointments under the current Congress," he said. “By comparison, President Obama had only seen 35 judges confirmed by July 2010.
"Not only is the president nominating judges at a fast clip, he is tending to nominate judges who are relatively young."
Gingrich noted Kavanaugh is only 53.
"If he serves until he is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s age, he will be on the nation’s highest court until 2050," Gingrich said.
"This is the Trump plan to strategically shift the judiciary toward constitutionalism. Since these appointments are for life, President Trump’s influence on the federal court system will last decades beyond his time in office."
And he maintained the anticipated fight over Kavanaugh’s nomination is crucial to win.
"Judge Kavanaugh is clearly one of the brightest and hardest working members of the federal bench," he said. "Even liberal law professors have been praising him.
"I couldn’t help but wonder how the Democrats are going to try to demonize this eminently likable man, who currently serves on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
And he added: "Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois communicated the depth of the Democrats’ desperation when he said it would be worth losing several red state senators to block the nomination."
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