Cory Wilson testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing. Cory Wilson testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to be a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Mississippi, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

The American Bar Association's committee on the federal judiciary said Monday that Cory Wilson is "well qualified" for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ahead of his expected hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee later this week.

Wilson was originally nominated by President Donald Trump for a judgeship in the Southern District of Mississippi and faced senators at a hearing for that seat in January. But he was elevated to consideration for the Fifth Circuit earlier this year after Trump's original nominee for the seat, Judge Halil Suleyman "Sul" Ozerden fell flat with Republicans over questions on his religious liberty credentials.

The ABA rating released Monday shows a majority of the committee found Wilson to be well qualified, and a minority gave him a rating of qualified. The committee said Wilson was "qualified" for the district court judgeship. He currently sits on the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has not formally announced its hearing for Wilson, but did notice a nominations hearing for Wednesday afternoon. The committee held its first judicial nomination hearing during the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month on U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit nominee U.S. District Judge Justin Walker, despite protests from Senate Democrats that the committee prioritize virus-related matters over judicial nominees.

Walker and Wilson would fill the only two appellate vacancies in the country. Trump has tapped 51 judges for seats on federal appeals courts, far more than any other president in recent history by this point of their first term according to a judiciary tracker by the conservative Article III Project.

If confirmed to the Fifth Circuit, Wilson would add to an already deep conservative bench. Trump has tapped five of the court's 17 active judges and six others were confirmed during Republican administrations.

Liberal groups have come out swinging against the nominees, amplifying both men's remarks cutting against the Affordable Care Act in the backdrop of the global health emergency.

"Mr. Wilson would bring a strong bias to the federal bench and could not rule fairly on any matter involving the ACA or access to health care," reads one letter sent to senators in May on behalf of civil rights groups. "Amidst the worst public health crisis this nation has witnessed in over a century and during a time in which access to health care is a life-or-death proposition, it would be folly to confirm an anti-health care activist like Mr. Wilson to the federal judiciary."

Wilson has already faced questions from Democrats on his comments opposing the Obama-era healthcare legislation. He told senators in January that he made those remarks in his role as an elected representative and not as a judge, and those viewpoints would not impact any rulings he would hand down if confirmed to the bench.

Conservatives have backed Wilson's nomination. "His career has been marked by courage; from his early days as at Yale to his years as a state legislator, he has been committed to conservative causes," Carrie Severino, president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said when Wilson's nomination was announced in March. "I am confident that Wilson will bring this courage to the bench, and not be afraid to stand up for the rule of law."

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