President Trump Is On The Verge Of Flipping The New York Appeals Court To Conservative Control

The Senate confirmed Judge Joseph Bianco and Michael Park to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, putting President Donald Trump on the verge of flipping the panel to conservative control.

Bianco and Park are Trump’s second and third appointees to that panel. If Trump fills the remaining two vacancies on the 2nd Circuit, Republican appointees will control the court. The two were confirmed with separate votes Wednesday and Thursday.

The 2nd Circuit is the federal appeals court that covers Connecticut, New York and Vermont. Given its jurisdiction over Manhattan, the 2nd Circuit has a large and important docket of corporate and securities law cases.

Though Trump has replaced appeals judges at a record clip, he has only flipped the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to majority Republican appointees.

Both men represent Republican determination to move judicial nominees into key posts at a steady pace. New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand withheld so-called blue slips for Bianco and Park. Under past Senate convention, the Senate Judiciary Committee would not convene a confirmation hearing until senators return an opinion on a judicial nominee selected for a court in their state.

Liberal groups said the GOP disregarded Senate tradition for partisan advantage, though Republicans say the blue slip rule has been enforced irregularly in the modern period.

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