Washington (AFP) - To seduce the Conservatives, Donald Trump has appointed federal judges loyal to their values throughout the United States, stepping up the pace even as the delicate mid-term elections draw near.
"It has been less than two years since I was president and I have already brought two judges to the Supreme Court," Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, boasted the Republican leader in an election rally Monday night in Texas.
"We also broke a record of federal judges," he added, joking that only George Washington, the first president of the United States, had done better by appointing "100% of the judges" of the country . "We will never beat him, but we come close!"
According to the US Constitution, the president appoints judges of the Supreme Court and federal judges for life in appellate or trial courts. It is then up to the Senate to confirm them.
Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has obtained the confirmation of 84 judges, against 43 over the same period for his predecessor Democrat Barack Obama. And he has appointed more than 50 others, who are waiting for the green light of the Senate.
All were held back for their conservative, "sometimes burning" views, "of the sort to make some people nervous," according to former White House lawyer Don McGahn, who left his post in the summer.
New graduates have already distinguished themselves, here by refusing a case of racial discrimination at work, while advocating for the removal of donations during election campaigns.
"We can already feel the difference" at the level of appeal courts, welcomed last week the Minister of Justice Jeff Sessions.
Aware of making a lasting mark on the judiciary, Donald Trump sees these appointments as "one of the most important things" in his action, "perhaps the most important."
- Vacant jobs -
In the run-up to the parliamentary elections of November 6, these brewing new judges galvanize conservative voters.
Evangelical Christians and traditionalist Republicans, however, skeptically watched the rise of Donald Trump, a billionaire married three times, who was not known for his religious fervor.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, however, he won their support by promising to appoint to the Supreme Court judges opposed to abortion and favorable to the carrying of firearms, and more generally to choose judges with a conservative approach. law.
When he came to power, he was able to rely on a Republican-dominated Senate which, from 2014 to 2016, had blocked the candidates presented by Barack Obama, so that 107 judges' positions were vacant.
Taking advantage of a lowering of the threshold required (simple majority against three-fifths majority until 2013), the Republican senators then confirmed almost all the judges chosen by the new president.
One candidate, however, had to throw in the towel because of his legal shortcomings, when another gave up after the discovery of old writings favorable to the Ku Klux Klan.
- "Stuff the courts" -
Republican senators may lose their majority in the November 6 poll. They would then remain only two months before the new elected officials take office to confirm the fifty judges on standby.
They just engage the top speed, ignoring the usual practice in the room. Fifteen judges were suddenly confirmed in mid-October just before the Senate went on leave.
And the Senate Judiciary Committee continues to hear Donald Trump's candidates despite the interruption of the parliamentary session.
"The Judiciary Committee is the only one still conducting hearings," said Senator Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday after judges selected by Donald Trump were heard in the presence of ... two senators.
"Republicans are flouting all the rules to fill the courts with young and ideological candidates who will weaken the rights and protections of Americans for years," said the Democratic Senate.
If he keeps control of this room, Donald Trump could go much further. More than 150 federal judges out of 860 are expected to be filled by the end of his term.
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