Trump makes a statement with picks for the bench

Donald Trump promised to appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court and lower federal courts. While many of his other promised policies – often enacted as executive orders – have been slowed by bureaucracy or by the courts themselves, the president’s judicial appointments have gone largely as planned. Starting with his successful appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, the president nominated more conservatives to open federal positions Monday.

President launches effort to pack courts with conservatives

The White House named 10 judges it plans to nominate for key posts as President Trump starts working on filling 119 federal district court and circuit court vacancies.

McConnell gambit on federal judges starting to pay off

Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans purposely kept judges’ seats open in hopes of a Republican president winning in 2016. Now they are able to usher in like-minded folks to the federal bench.

David Nye renominated for idaho federal judgeship

The overburdened federal court system in Idaho would be relieved if the renomination of Judge David Nye is approved. Nye was among 10 judicial nominees Trump named Monday; he’s one of two on the list who already were nominated for the post by President Obama. Nye has received unanimous support in the Senate Judiciary Committee after a hearing. But partisan squabbling shelved his nomination in the full Senate, leaving Idaho with just one active federal judge.