Rand Paul Torpedoes Biden Plan to Nominate Anti-Abortion Conservative to Federal Judiciary – Wait, What?
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Sen. Rand Paul thwarted a plan by President Joe Biden to nominate a conservative, anti-abortion lawyer to the federal bench, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Last month, the Louisville Courier-Journal revealed Biden planned to nominate Federalist Society member Chad Meredith to an upcoming vacancy on the court for the Eastern District of Kentucky as part of an unspecified deal. Later, Slate reported that in exchange, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would agree not to block Biden’s nominees for U.S. Attorney in Kentucky.
The Courier-Journal obtained an email from the White House indicating Biden intended to nominate Meredith on June 24, but it didn’t happen. On that day, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, striking down a constitutional right to abortion.
Meredith’s nomination appeared to be on hold until Friday when the Times reported it was off entirely because Rand Paul prevented it from moving forward.
When it comes to federal district court nominations and certain other federal positions, the Senate adheres to a tradition whereby senators return “blue slips” with either favorable or unfavorable opinions on nominees to positions in their home states. But Paul is refusing to submit a blue slip consenting to Meredith’s nomination.
“In considering potential district court nominees, the White House learned that Senator Rand Paul will not return a blue slip on Chad Meredith,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement released on Friday. “Therefore, the White House will not nominate Mr. Meredith.”
The Times reported:
The outcome has left Mr. McConnell frustrated and some Democrats mystified. It pulled back the curtain on a seldom discussed back channel of communication that remains between Mr. McConnell and Mr. Biden, who were once negotiating partners in the Senate but who have more recently had little to do with one another as the Kentucky Republican works to sink the Democratic president’s agenda.
McConnell claimed he had made no deal with Biden. “This was a personal friendship gesture,” he told the Times.
It is unclear why Paul declined to approve Meredith’s nomination. The Times report suggested McConnell didn’t know either, but said he “raised the possibility that Mr. Paul might have believed that it was his turn to put forward a judicial candidate.”
There are 67 vacancies in federal district courts, many of which are due to the blue slip tradition. The custom also applied to federal appeals court nominees, but McConnell ended the practice in 2017 so the Republican-controlled Senate at the time could approve more judges nominated by then-President Donald Trump.
