Tag: Judiciary

Heads roll in Ukraine graft purge, but defense chief Reznikov rejects rumors he’s out

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KYIV — Heads are rolling in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s expanding purge against corruption in Ukraine, but Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov is denying rumors that he’s destined for the exit — a move that would be viewed as a considerable setback for Kyiv in the middle of its war with Russia.
Two weeks ago, Ukraine was shaken by two major corruption scandals centered on government procurement of military catering services and electrical generators. Rather than sweeping the suspect deals under the carpet, Zelenskyy launched a major crackdown, in a bid to show allies in the U.S. and EU that Ukraine is making a clean break from the past.
Tetiana Shevchuk, a lawyer with the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a watchdog, said Zelenskyy needed to draw a line in the sand: “Because even when the war is going on, people saw that officials are conducting ‘business as usual’. They saw that corrupt schemes have not disappeared, and it made people really angry. Therefore, the president had to show he is on the side of fighting against corruption.”
Since the initial revelations, the graft investigations have snowballed, with enforcers uncovering further possible profiteering in the defense ministry. Two former deputy defense ministers have been placed in pre-trial detention.
Given the focus on his ministry in the scandal, speculation by journalists and politicians has swirled that Reznikov — one of the best-known faces of Ukraine’s war against the Russian invaders — is set to be fired or at least transferred to another ministry.
But losing such a top name would be a big blow. At a press conference on Sunday, Reznikov dismissed the claims about his imminent departure as rumors and said that only Zelenskyy was in a position to remove him. Although Reznikov admits the anti-corruption department at his ministry failed and needs reform, he said he was still focused on ensuring that Ukraine’s soldiers were properly equipped.
“Our key priority now is the stable supply of Ukrainian soldiers with all they need,” Reznikov said during the press conference.
Despite his insistence that any decision on his removal could only come from Zelenskyy, Reznikov did still caution that he was ready to depart — and that no officials would serve in their posts forever.

The speculation about Reznikov’s fate picked up on Sunday when David Arakhamia, head of Zelenskyy’s affiliated Servant of the People party faction in the parliament, published a statement saying Reznikov would soon be transferred to the position of minister for strategic industries to strengthen military-industrial cooperation. Major General Kyrylo Budanov, current head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, would head the Ministry of Defense, Arakhamia said.
However, on Monday, Arakhamia seemed to row back somewhat, and claimed no reshuffle in the defense ministry was planned for this week. Mariana Bezuhla, deputy head of the national security and defense committee in the Ukrainian parliament, also said that the parliament had decided to postpone any staff decisions in the defense ministry as they consider the broader risks for national defense ahead of another meeting of defense officials at the U.S. Ramstein air base in Germany and before an expected upcoming Russian offensive.
Zelenskyy steps in
The defense ministry is not the only department to be swept up in the investigations. Over the first days of February, the Security Service of Ukraine, State Investigation Bureau, and Economic Security Bureau conducted dozens of searches at the customs service, the tax service and in local administrations. Officials of several different levels were dismissed en masse for sabotaging their service during war and hurting the state.
“Unfortunately, in some areas, the only way to guarantee legitimacy is by changing leaders along with the implementation of institutional changes,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on February 1. “I see from the reaction in society that people support the actions of law enforcement officers. So, the movement towards justice can be felt. And justice will be ensured.”
Yuriy Nikolov, founder of the Nashi Groshi (Our Money) investigative website, who broke the story about the defense ministry’s alleged profiteering on food and catering services for soldiers in January, said the dismissals and continued searches were first steps in the right direction.
“Now let’s wait for the court sentences. It all looked like a well-coordinated show,” Nikolov told POLITICO.  “At the same time, it is good that the government prefers this kind of demonstrative fight against corruption, instead of covering up corrupt officials.”
Still, even though Reznikov declared zero tolerance for corruption and admitted that defense procurement during war needs reform, he has still refused to publish army price contract data on food and non-secret equipment, Nikolov said.
During his press conference, Reznikov insisted he could not reveal sensitive military information during a period of martial law as it could be used by the enemy. “We have to maintain the balance of public control and keep certain procurement procedures secret,” he said.
Two deputies down
Alleged corruption in secret procurement deals has, however, already cost him two of his deputies.
Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who oversaw logistical support for the army, tendered his resignation in January following a scandal involving the purchase of military rations at inflated prices. In his resignation letter, Shapovalov asked to be dismissed in order “not to pose a threat to the stable supply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a result of a campaign of accusations related to the purchase of food services.”
Another of Reznikov’s former deputies, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who managed defense procurement in the ministry until December, was also arrested over accusations he lobbied for a purchase of 3,000 poor-quality bulletproof vests for the army worth more than 100 million hryvnias (€2.5 million), the Security Service of Ukraine reported.  If found guilty he faces up to eight years in prison. The director of the company that supplied the bulletproof vests under the illicit contract has been identified as a suspect by the authorities and now faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.
Both ex-officials can be released on bail.
Another unnamed defense ministry official, a non-staff adviser to the deputy defense minister of Ukraine, was also identified as a suspect in relation to the alleged embezzlement of 1.7 billion hryvnias (€43 million) from the defense budget, the General Prosecutors Office of Ukraine reported.
When asked about corruption cases against former staffers, Reznikov stressed people had to be considered innocent until proven guilty.
Reputational risk
At the press conference on Sunday, Reznikov claimed that during his time in the defense ministry, he managed to reorganize it, introduced competition into food supplies and filled empty stocks.
However, the anti-corruption department of the ministry completely failed, he admitted. He argued the situation in the department was so unsatisfactory that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption gave him an order to conduct an official audit of employees. And it showed the department had to be reorganized.
“At a closed meeting with the watchdogs and investigative journalists I offered them to delegate people to the reloaded anti-corruption department. We also agreed to create a public anti-corruption council within the defense ministry,” Reznikov said.
Nikolov was one of the watchdogs attending the closed meeting. He said the minister did not bring any invoices or receipts for food products for the army, or any corrected contract prices to the meeting. Moreover, the minister called the demand to reveal the price of an egg or a potato “an idiocy” and said prices should not be published at all, Nikolov said in a statement. Overpriced eggs were one of the features of the inflated catering contracts that received particular public attention.
Reznikov instead suggested creating an advisory body with the public. He would also hold meetings, and working groups, and promised to provide invoices upon request, the journalist added.
“So far, it looks like the head of state, Zelenskyy, has lost patience with the antics of his staff, but some of his staff do not want to leave their comfort zone and are trying to leave some corruption options for themselves for the future,” Nikolov said.
Reznikov was not personally accused of any wrongdoing by law enforcement agencies.
But the minister acknowledged that there was reputational damage in relation to his team and communications. “This is a loss of reputation today, it must be recognized and learned from,” he said. At the same time, he believed he had nothing to be ashamed of: “My conscience is absolutely clear,” he said.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

February 6, 2023
Attempt being made to ‘make judiciary part of PMO’: Congress

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Khanabal: Attacking the government, the Congress on Friday alleged that an “undeclared emergency” prevailed in the country and an attempt was being made to “make the judiciary part of the PMO”.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Bharat Jodo Yatra is aimed at highlighting such “dangers” facing the country.
Addressing a press conference here, Ramesh said the yatra is aimed at flagging increasing economic disparity, the RSS and the BJP allegedly spreading social polarisation for electoral advantage and the “political dictatorship” prevailing in the country.
“There is an undeclared emergency in the country. There is rule by one person, Parliament is being ignored, debates don’t take place in Parliament. One example is of the danger on our borders, two-and-a-half years have passed but it has not been discussed,” Ramesh said, referring to the border standoff between India and China.
“Constitution is being ignored, constitutional bodies are being weakened and an attempt is being made to destroy the judiciary. Everyday comments are being made, there is an attempt to make the judiciary part of the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office),” he alleged.
His remarks come in the backdrop of a raging debate on the issue of appointments to the higher judiciary with the government questioning the current collegium system and the Supreme Court defending it.
At the press conference, Ramesh said, “So this question why is the Congress out to unite India when nobody is breaking the country, we are saying it is getting divided, there are dangers and if we don’t act, the dangers will increase. So we are raising our voice against economic disparities, social polarisation and political dictatorship. We are taking on the BJP and the RSS ideologically. Election strategy has nothing to do with the yatra.”
“There are two ways — one way is of the RSS-BJP and according to their path they are using the cannon of ‘one person, one system’ and the other way is the way of harmony, the way of the Congress, the way of Mahatma Gandhi, the way of Rahul Gandhi, where the ‘shehnaai’ of democracy is being played…. These are the two ways that are before our country,” Ramesh said.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7. It will culminate with Gandhi unfurling the national flag at the party headquarters in Srinagar and addressing a grand rally at the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium on January 30.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 27, 2023
New GOP senator irks colleagues with Judiciary committee push

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“This is something the Missouri senators need to work out,” Blackburn said in an interview.
“I’m the only Republican woman on the Senate Judiciary Committee and I don’t intend to come off the committee,” she added.
Blackburn joined the panel after the GOP drew heat for having no female members during the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. As for Schmitt, Blackburn said: “He needs to understand that these are decisions for the leader, for the committee on committees,” referring to a panel that handles committee apportionment and is run by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
Senate Republicans will vote Wednesday on a waiver that would allow Schmitt to be on the Judiciary Committee, a necessary step since Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley already serves on the panel. But based on the current committee makeup, approving a waiver would threaten Tillis or Blackburn’s seat at the table on Judiciary and have a cascading effect, scrambling committee rosters across the board.
The topic came up at the Senate GOP lunch, where Tillis and Blackburn made clear that they have no interest in leaving the panel. Crapo encouraged senators to vote against the waiver, according to an attendee and a senior GOP aide. Tillis declined to comment on his conversation with Schmitt.
“Senator Schmitt and his team are continuing to have productive conversations as committee assignments are being worked out, and he will continue to fight for Missourians in the committees that he’s selected to serve on,” said William O’Grady, Schmitt’s press secretary.
Three weeks into the new Congress, the Senate has yet to officially organize its committees after Democrats increased their majority to 51-49 in the November election.
Under the GOP conference rules, a senator needs to request a waiver if a senator from his or her home state already sits on the panel, though the conference has previously voted to waive that rule on certain occasions. The Senate Judiciary Committee has had members from the same state serve on the panel before, including Texas GOP Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and former Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

The Senate Judiciary Committee is home to some of the most contentious fights in Congress, overseeing Supreme Court confirmations and holding jurisdiction over tough political issues like immigration and abortion. It’s a particularly coveted panel for future presidential hopefuls, as its work attracts a media spotlight.
Schmitt argues he should be on the panel as a lawyer and former attorney general. Tillis and Blackburn are not attorneys, but the panel has a long history of elevating members outside the legal profession. Former chairs Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) do not have law degrees.
“As a former attorney general, it’s right in his wheelhouse,” Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said of Schmitt. “Unfortunately because we’re in the minority and we’re losing the seat it creates a problem.”
Alexander Burns contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 25, 2023
Centre’s intervention in judiciary a danger: Former Karnataka SC judge

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Mysuru: Former Karnataka Lokayukta and Supreme Court judge, Justice N. Santhosh Hegde (retd) on Tuesday termed the Union government’s intervention in the appointment of judges and in the judicial system incorrect and “dangerous”.
At an interaction programme with media, he underlined that the executive should not intervene with the judiciary. “This kind of intervention is a dangerous development,” he warned.
“The politicians will not have any knowledge about the judiciary. If this is the case, it is not tenable to intervene in the appointment of judges or in the matters of judiciary,” Hegde said.
“I didn’t know much about the society before becoming Lokayukta. Those who become rich will get all the respect. Those who come out of jail are received with grand welcome,” he said.
Hegde further said that there is danger of the country getting divided on the lines of religion and language. However, one can’t say when it is going to happen, he added.
“Corruption is rampant in the country. The representatives of the people are having the feeling of being owners of the people. The politicians are just talking about corruption and making allegations against each other. No one wants to correct it,” he said.
If this situation continues, people will rebel against the system, he said, but added that he wouldn’t know when this situation will come.
“I got many awards, recognitions. I have donated money to organisations. I have not accepted money from anyone. I own an apartment and nothing else. We have to be clean,” he said.

Hedge also said that the delay in disposal of cases should not happen, but society is getting a different message as mediators are being approached for solutions.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 24, 2023
Reporting corruption in a time of war: The Ukrainian journalists’ dilemma

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When a major corruption scandal broke in Ukraine last weekend, reporters faced an excruciating dilemma between professional duty and patriotism. The first thought that came to my mind was: “Should I write about this for foreigners? Will it make them stop supporting us?”
There was no doubting the severity of the cases that were erupting into the public sphere. They cut to the heart of the war economy. In one instance, investigators were examining whether the deputy infrastructure minister had profited from a deal to supply electrical generators at an inflated price, while the defense ministry was being probed over an overpriced contract to supply food and catering services to the troops.
Huge stories, but in a sign of our life-or-death times in Ukraine, even my colleague Yuriy Nikolov, who got the scoop on the inflated military contract, admitted he had done everything he could not to publish his investigation. He took his findings to public officials hoping that they might be able to resolve the matter, before he finally felt compelled to run it on the ZN.UA website.

Getting a scoop that shocks your country, forces your government to start investigations and reform military procurement, and triggers the resignation of top officials is ordinarily something that makes other journalists jealous. But I fully understand how Nikolov feels about wanting to hold back when your nation is at war. Russia (and Ukraine’s other critics abroad) are, after all, looking to leap upon any opportunity to undermine trust in our authorities.
A journalist is meant to stay a little distant from the situation he or she covers. It helps to stay impartial and to stick to the facts, not emotions. But what if staying impartial is impossible as you have to cover the invasion of your own country? Naturally, you have to keep holding your government to account, but you are also painfully aware that the enemy is out there looking to exploit any opportunity to erode faith in the leadership and undermine national security.
That is exactly what Ukrainian journalists have to deal with every day. In the first six months of the invasion, Ukrainian journalists and watchdogs decided to put their public criticism of the Ukrainian government on pause and focus on documenting Russian war crimes.
But that has backfired.
“This pause led to a rapid loss of accountability for many Ukrainian officials,” Mykhailo Tkach, one of Ukraine’s top investigative journalists, wrote in a column for Ukrainska Pravda.
His investigations about Ukrainian officials leaving the country during the war for lavish vacations in Europe led to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposing a ban on officials traveling abroad during the war for non-work-related issues. It also sparked the dismissal of the powerful deputy prosecutor general.
The Ukrainian government was forced to react to corruption and make a major reshuffle almost immediately. Would that happen if Ukrainian journalists decided to sit on their findings until victory? I doubt it.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended up imposing a ban on officials traveling abroad during the war for non-work-related issues | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Is it still painful when you have to write about your own government’s officials’ flops when overwhelming enemy forces are trying to erase your nation from the planet, using every opportunity they can get to shake your international partners’ faith? Of course it is.
But in this case, there was definite room for optimism. Things are changing in Ukraine. The government had to react very quickly, under intense pressure from civil society and the independent press. Memes and social media posts immediately appeared, mocking the government’s pledge to buy eggs at massively inflated prices. Ultimately, the deputy infrastructure minister was fired and the deputy defense minister resigned.
This speedy response was praised by the European Commission and showed how far we really are from Russia, where authorities hunt down not the officials accused of corruption, but the journalists who report it.
As Tkach said, many believe that the war with the internal enemy will begin immediately after the victory over the external one.
However, we can’t really wait that long. It is important to understand that the sooner we win the battle with the internal enemy — high-profile corruption — the sooner we win the war against Russia.
“Destruction of corruption means getting additional funds for the defense capability of the country. And it means more military and civilian lives saved,” Tkach said.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 24, 2023
Ukraine wants to join EU within two years, PM says

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has a tight two-year timetable for securing EU membership that is bound to dominate discussions at this week’s historic EU-Ukraine summit, the first to take place on Ukrainian soil.
The problem? No one within the EU thinks this is realistic.
When EU commissioners travel to Kyiv later this week ahead of Friday’s summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the heads of the European Commission and Council, their main task is likely to involve managing expectations.

Shmyhal himself is imposing a tough deadline. “We have a very ambitious plan to join the European Union within the next two years,” he told POLITICO. “So we expect that this year, in 2023, we can already have this pre-entry stage of negotiations,” he said.
This throws down a gauntlet to the EU establishment, which is trying to keep Ukrainian membership as a far more remote concept.
French President Emmanuel Macron said last year it could be “decades” before Ukraine joins. Even EU leaders, who backed granting Ukraine candidate status at their summit last June, privately admit that the prospect of the country actually joining is quite some years away (and may be one reason they backed the idea in the first place.) After all, candidate countries like Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro have been waiting for many years, since 1999 in Ankara’s case.
Ukraine is a conundrum for the EU. Many argue that Brussels has a particular responsibility to Kyiv. It was, after all, Ukrainians’ fury at the decision of President Viktor Yanukovych to pull out of a political and economic association agreement with the EU at Russia’s behest that triggered the Maidan uprising of 2014 and set the stage for war. As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put it: Ukraine is “the only country where people got shot because they wrapped themselves in a European flag.”
Ukraine’s close allies in the EU such as Poland and the Baltic countries strongly support Kyiv’s membership push, seeing it as a democracy resisting an aggressor. Many of the EU old guard are far more wary, however, as Ukraine — a global agricultural superpower — could dilute their own powers and perks. Ukraine and Poland — with a combined population of 80 million — could team up to rival Germany as a political force in the European Council and some argue Kyiv would be an excessive drain on the EU budget.
Short-term deliverables
Friday’s summit in Kyiv — the first EU meeting of its kind to take place in an active war zone — will be about striking the right balance.
Though EU national leaders will not be in attendance, European Council officials have been busy liaising with EU member states about the final communiqué.
Some countries are insisting the statement should not stray far from the language used at the June European Council — emphasizing that while the future of Ukraine lies within the European Union, aspirant countries need to meet specific criteria. “Expectation is quite high in Kyiv, but there is a need to fulfill all the conditions that the Commission has set out. It’s a merit-based process,” said one senior EU official.
Ukraine is a conundrum for the EU. Many argue that Brussels has a particular responsibility to Kyiv | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Still, progress is expected when Zelenskyy meets with von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel.
Shmyhal told POLITICO he hopes Ukraine can achieve a “substantial leap forward” on Friday, particularly in specific areas — an agreement on a visa-free regime for industrial goods; the suspension of customs duties on Ukrainian exports for another year; and “active progress” on joining the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payments scheme and the inclusion of Ukraine into the EU’s mobile roaming area.
“We expect progress and acceleration on our path towards signing these agreements,” he said.
Anti-corruption campaign
The hot topic — and one of the central question marks over Ukraine’s EU accession — will be Ukraine’s struggle against corruption. The deputy infrastructure minister was fired and deputy foreign minister stepped down this month over scandals related to war profiteering in public contracts.
“We need a reformed Ukraine,” said one senior EU official centrally involved in preparations for the summit. “We cannot have the same Ukraine as before the war.”
Shmyhal insisted that the Zelenskyy government is taking corruption seriously. “We have a zero-tolerance approach to corruption,” he said, pointing to the “lightning speed” with which officials were removed this month. “Unfortunately, corruption was not born yesterday, but we are certain that we will uproot corruption,” he said, openly saying that it’s key to the country’s EU accession path.
He also said the government was poised to revise its recent legislation on the country’s Constitutional Court to meet the demands of both the European Commission and the Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe. Changes could come as early as this week, ahead of the summit, Shmyhal said.
Though Ukraine has announced a reform of the Constitutional Court, particularly on how judges are appointed, the Venice Commission still has concerns about the powers and composition of the advisory group of experts, the body which selects candidates for the court. The goal is to avoid political interference.
Shmyhal said these questions will be addressed. “We are holding consultations with the European Commission to see that all issued conclusions may be incorporated into the text,” he told POLITICO.
Nonetheless, the symbolic power of this week’s summit is expected to send a strong message to Moscow about Ukraine’s European aspirations.
European Council President Michel used his surprise visit to Kyiv this month to reassure Ukraine that EU membership will be a reality for Ukraine, telling the Ukrainian Rada (parliament) that he dreams that one day a Ukrainian will hold his job as president of the European Council.
“Ukraine is the EU and the EU is Ukraine,” he said. “We must spare no effort to turn this promise into reality as fast as we can.”
The key question for Ukrainians after Friday’s meeting will be how fast the rhetoric and promises can become a reality.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 24, 2023
Storied Senate Judiciary panel eyes a new era of quieter productivity

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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of Judiciary, predicted that at least for his intellectual property subcommittee, “there’s not going to be as much sparring there as long as the Democrats hold their votes.”
“It’s going to be very difficult” for Republicans to influence the committee results given the Democrats’ “structural majority,” Tillis said. “There are some that are going to do it, but then you have to ask why, in terms of a vote outcome.”
Of course, that dynamic could change, and would shift instantly if a Supreme Court vacancy arises. The recent confirmations of Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh each served as high-water marks of partisan bitterness for the committee. And much of the environment will depend on the tone between Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and the panel’s incoming top Republican, former chair Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Durbin said in a brief interview that he and Graham have a “good relationship.” Both have teamed up on bipartisan legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, even as Graham pushes for a tougher border policy. (An ally of former President Donald Trump, Graham has also had his fair share of battles with the panel’s Democrats, accusing them in 2018 of wanting to “destroy” Kavanaugh.)
As for the panel as a whole, Durbin said it won’t just be a rubber stamp for judges this Congress and cited oversight of drug policy as one area of potential focus.
“I hope that we are as productive when it comes to judicial nominees, but we’re also going to take the oversight role very seriously,” Durbin said. “To restore the reputation of the committee, we have to have meaningful oversight even of your own party’s administration. And there’s so many issues that come at us in so many different directions.”
Senate committees have yet to finalize how many members will sit on each panel, and if any senators will be added or removed. Subcommittee gavels are also up in the air, though that committee assignment process is expected to wrap as soon as this week. And it’s unclear how many members will be using the panel as a launching pad for presidential ambitions, though Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) have both disavowed interest in the 2024 race.
Democratic committee aides highlight some bipartisan successes from the last Congress, including legislation that eliminated the use of forced arbitration for victims of alleged sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. But other priorities, like changes to the immigration or criminal justice system, stalled out despite Democrats’ full control of Washington.

Getting anything related to those policy areas through Congress will only be more difficult this term, given the GOP-controlled House.
Democratic committee aides, in interviews, cited the reauthorization of surveillance law intended to gather electronic communication of foreign targets as one policy area that they’ll need to address — a topic that may well cause partisan sparks given House Republicans’ emerging divisions about their own plans to try to overhaul the law.
One GOP aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that a handful of bills that passed the Senate unanimously last year but stalled in the House, including a bill to aid first responders with post traumatic stress disorder, could get through this Congress.
The committee is also expected to continue examining Trump’s efforts to pressure the Justice Department in the leadup to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Meanwhile, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said the courts subcommittee he’s led would “continue to look very hard and very consistently at all the ethics failures and gaps at the Supreme Court,” including potentially bringing in a clerical worker to explain the process for when the high court receives an ethics complaint.
Yet even as the Judiciary Committee plans oversight hearings, including this week’s hearing on Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift ticket-sales debacle, Democrats are still ramping up their attention on judges.
The panel ended the last Congress with 39 judicial nominees who got committee hearings without winning confirmation. Those judicial picks, 25 of whom have already been renominated by the Biden administration, will need committee approval before reaching the Senate floor.
And the limited legislative agenda that’s typical of divided government will inherently allow more floor time for judicial nominees. From 2019 to 2020, when Democrats controlled the House and Republicans controlled the Senate, the upper chamber confirmed 145 district and circuit judges and one Supreme Court justice. Democrats are also benefiting from a 2019 GOP rules change that cut down the debate time for district court nominees.
“We’ll once again set a record in terms of the number of qualified judicial nominees we’ll confirm,” predicted Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the panel.
Despite outpacing Trump on judicial confirmations in the last Congress, Democrats are facing calls from outside progressive groups to go further by tossing so-called “blue slips,” which grant home-state senators veto power over district court nominees. The liberal group Demand Justice has underscored that most of the current district court vacancies lacking nominees are situated in red states.
“The number one reason that the pace of confirmations will slow down is Republican blue slips,” said Chris Kang, chief counsel of Demand Justice. “One of the challenges in the Obama administration was that Republican senators would obstruct by delay. And at some point the clock will run out on even this two-year Congress.”
A Democratic Judiciary committee aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, described calls to get rid of the blue slip as “premature.”
In the last Congress, 10 blue slips were returned from GOP senators for district court nominees, including four from former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), four from former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), one from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and one from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). The Biden White House has also recently nominated district court judges from Indiana and Idaho.
Mike Davis, founder and president of the conservative Article III Project, acknowledged that Republican senators may not be “very eager to negotiate with the Biden White House [on] judges” given that “they can just wait two years” for a potential change in administration. Yet some say they’re willing to work with the Biden team.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the committee, said in a statement that he looked forward to working with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and the White House “to ensure Texas continues to have top-notch federal judges.”
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 22, 2023