Senate Votes in Favor of 2 Judicial Nominees as Trump Nears Flipping 11th Circuit
With Luck's confirmation and Lagoa's expected to follow shortly, Trump will have appointed five of the 12 active judges on the 11th Circuit.
November 19, 2019 at 04:03 PM
3 minute read
The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm a Florida State Supreme Court justice to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and advanced another state justice for a seat on the same court, as the circuit is set to flip to a majority of GOP-appointed judges.
The Senate voted 64-31 to confirm the state justice, Robert J. Luck, to the 11th Circuit seat. The body also voted 80-15 to invoke cloture for the nomination of fellow justice Barbara Lagoa, teeing her up for a Wednesday confirmation vote.
Both of the justices had a smooth nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month and were advanced out of committee on a bipartisan basis earlier this month. A handful of Democratic senators voted against each of the nominees.
During their joint nomination hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee in October, both Luck and Lagoa stressed that they would follow the law as it is written and that they would not act as "judicial activists," or those believed to rule in line with their personal beliefs rather than with the law as it's written.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor this week called both of the nominees "two more fine choices by President Trump." Lagoa became the first Hispanic woman to be appointed to the Florida Supreme Court when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped her for the job earlier this year.
Tuesday's vote moves the 11th Circuit one step closer to shifting to a majority of GOP-appointed judges. Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat, who was appointed by President Gerald Ford, announced in August that he would take senior status, and President Bill Clinton-appointed Judge Stanley Marcus said a month later that he would do the same.
With Luck's confirmation and Lagoa's expected to follow shortly, Trump will have appointed five of the 12 active judges on the 11th Circuit. He has already tapped three other judges to that bench: Judges Kevin Newsom, Elizabeth Branch and Britt Grant.
The 11th Circuit is also set to become the third circuit that has flipped to a majority of Republican-appointed judges during the Trump administration. The Senate voted to confirm Steven Menashi last week to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, filling the powerful New York-based court with a majority of GOP appointees.
And the Senate voted back in March to confirm then-Lowenstein Sandler partner Paul Matey to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, making the court the first to see its composition change under Trump. Another GOP-nominated judge was added to the panel in July, as senators voted in favor of Peter Phipps despite concerns about a potential lack of experience.
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