Wendy Vitter, President Donald Trump's nominee for a Louisiana district court during Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on April 11, 2018. Photo Credit: YouTube.

The Senate Judiciary Committee continued to roll through votes for President Donald Trump's judicial picks Wednesday, setting up a number of controversial nominees for floor votes.

Two of the six nominees the committee voted out along party lines included Andrew Oldham, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and Wendy Vitter, for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Both nominees have faced controversy in part because of their response to questions Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, posed during their confirmation hearings on whether they believe Brown v. Board of Education was correctly decided.

Vitter, currently general counsel of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and wife of former U.S. Sen. David Vitter, said: “I think I get into a difficult area when I start commenting on Supreme Court decisions, which are correctly decided and which I may disagree with.”

Her past remarks on abortion and contraception—including false claims that birth control pills could lead to “violent death”—have also raised concerns.

“Nobody should insult this committee and the role of the Senate by pretending the records of these nominees don't matter or that they shouldn't have to answer our questions about how they will approach the law,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.

Activist groups pledged on Thursday to continue opposing the nominations of some picks—including Orgain Bell & Tucker partner Michael Truncale, a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

“Wendy Vitter, Andrew Oldham and Michael Truncale all have records that reflect a hostility to civil and human rights. They're not capable of serving as fair-minded jurists,” Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, tweeted. Her group “will continue urging the full Senate to oppose their confirmations.”

“Since the beginning of the Trump administration, the Republican majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee has made clear that it's more interested in acting as a rubber stamp for Donald Trump than in serving as a check on unqualified and unfit nominees,” the People for the American Way said in a statement. “But even by that standard, today's vote in support of three such extreme nominees is an appalling abdication of responsibility.”

The Trump administration has had judicial picks confirmed at record pace, and it appears that pattern will continue. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this month that he hopes the chamber confirms every judge out of committee “this calendar year.”

Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also said the committee plans to “process” at least five district court nominees, and one circuit court pick “every other Wednesday between now and Christmas.”

The committee also reported to the floor district court nominees Alan Albright, Peter Phipps and Thomas Kleeh by voice vote Wednesday. Committee members are expected to vote on Ryan Bounds, a nominee for the U.S. Circuit Court for the Ninth Circuit, next week.

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