Robert Raben of Washington's The Raben Group. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ

A Washington lobbying firm with veterans of the Clinton and Obama administrations is joining a growing Democratic effort that puts the federal judiciary—both shaping the courts and resisting Trump administration nominees—in sharper focus within the political arena.

The Raben Group registered Thursday to lobby on judicial nominations for a closely affiliated nonprofit, the Committee for a Fair Judiciary (CFJ), which was founded in 2011 to address the perceived enthusiasm gap on the left that relegates the importance of judicial nominations. Republicans, on the other hand, have long rallied around the courts, and the Trump administration is reshaping the judiciary with a crop of young, largely white and male, court nominees.

The new lobbying registration, dated Thursday but effective April 2, coincided with the public rollout of a Democratic-led group with a similar focus on the judiciary: Demand Justice. On Thursday, the New York Times reported that Brian Fallon, a former spokesman for the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Obama-era U.S. Justice Department, is stepping down as a CNN political commentator to lead the group's efforts to invigorate Democrats around court nominations.