Drew Tipton testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to be a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Texas on Feb. 12. Photo: Diego Radzinschi/ALM

The U.S. Senate has confirmed 20 judges to the federal bench in Texas during the Trump administration, and it's now one step closer to filling the last vacancy in the Lone Star State.

Drew Tipton, a Houston litigator nominated for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi, answered senators' questions during a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He addressed precedent, judicial activism and the application of federal law.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said at the hearing that Tipton advanced through Texas' bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, made up of experienced lawyers from across the state who vetted, interviewed and recommended the nominee for the bench.

"In this instance Mr. Tipton came through that process with flying colors, and impressed both Mr. Cornyn and myself," Cruz said. "Drew's experience as a trial advocate, and his deep history with the Southern District make him a strong and well-qualified candidate to be a judge."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said that Tipton and fellow nominees were rated as qualified or well qualified by the American Bar Association. She asked them to share their impression of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.

"It was correctly decided," Tipton replied.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asked whether the nominees, if confirmed, would ever think it appropriate to rely on foreign law to apply to U.S. statutes or the U.S. Constitution.

"International law, I don't think it applies to our U.S. Constitution at all, and I would not look at it," said Tipton, adding that the only scenarios where international law might apply is if the common law had come into play, or if a contract between parties had specified that foreign law was applicable.

Noncontroversial

Cruz asked each nominee to explain how they would define "judicial activism."

Tipton replied, "I think the way I've always thought of it is judicial activists are people who decide what the result is and then work backwards from there so they can get to it. To me, judicial modesty, which is what I think is the appropriate way, is to take the facts and law as they come, that lead logically to the conclusion, whether you like it or not from a personal perspective."

Based on the low attendance of committee members at the hearing, Tipton's approval is expected to be noncontroversial.

"I tell nominees: If every senator is in every seat when you walk into a hearing room, watch out," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who served as the committee's chairman in the absence of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina. "When there's not a lot of senators in the room because of conflicting engagements and the like, that's usually a good sign for the nominee."

The hearing comes less than one month after President Donald Trump announced Tipton's nomination for the federal bench.

With Baker & Hostetler since 1999, Tipton practices labor and employment and trade secret litigation. He's head of the firm's labor and employment group in the Houston office. Tipton earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston in 1994, and then clerked for U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey of the Southern District of Texas. If confirmed, Tipton would serve in the same courthouse as Rainey.

He told senators he hopes to follow in Rainey's footsteps because Rainey has great judicial characteristics of humility, modesty, kindness, ethics, integrity and a strong work ethic.

He said of his clerkship with Rainey, "I had the privilege of watching how this job should be done."