First Democrat to Back Trump Judge Pick Angers Progressives (1)

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) came under pressure from a progressive advocacy group after becoming the first and only Democrat so far to support a Donald Trump judicial nominee in the president’s second term.

Demand Justice struck out at Welch on Wednesday for his ‘yes’ vote to confirm Kyle Dudek to the Orlando-based US District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

“There is no legitimate reason for any Democrat to vote for a single one of Trump’s judicial nominees given the lawless actions of his administration and his attacks on the federal courts,” the group said of Tuesday’s 53-45 vote.

Welch told Bloomberg Law that Dudek merited his support.

“He is the needle in the haystack—a competent nominee by the Trump administration,” Welch said of the federal magistrate who clerked at the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and in the Eastern District of Virginia.

“I had a chance to vote for a qualified nominee, so I did,” Welch said.

Senate Democrats have supported a number of Trump’s Cabinet and lower executive nominees so far but have opposed his picks for the federal bench as a unified bloc, up until now.

Left-leaning judicial advocacy organizations have urged Senate Democrats to use every procedural tool available to oppose Trump’s judicial appointments, as he gets a second chance to further shape the federal judiciary with conservatives.

Welch didn’t vote on Dudek’s nomination in the Judiciary Committee. He was among Democrats who walked out of scheduled votes to protest Trump’s controversial appeals court nominee and former personal attorney, Emil Bove. Dudek was among several nominees on the agenda that day.

Democrats supported numerous Trump judicial nominees in his first term, illustrated especially by the more than two dozen voice votes for district court picks. That’s when both parties agree to confirm a nominee without a member roll call. Some of Trump’s circuit picks also were confirmed with strong Democratic backing.

Prior to Dudek, Senate Democrats had voted in lockstep this year to oppose five Trump nominees to district courts and his two confirmed picks for appellate seats, including Bove to the Third Circuit.

Democrats have largely dismissed Trump’s judicial nominees this term as unqualified and selected only for their fealty to a president who’s lashed out at judges when they’ve ruled against his policies. Trump and his allies have floated impeachment as a consequence in some cases, drawing a rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.

Welch said there was nothing specific about Dudek’s record that merited his backing, and dismissed a question about whether his co-sponsorship of a crime victims bill with Judiciary Committee colleague Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) played a role in his decision.

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, was the first non-Republican senator to support a Trump judicial nominee this term. King voted in favor of Joshua Divine’s appointment to Missouri’s US district courts, reportedly after a conversation with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Divine is a former aide to Hawley.