Alaska judicial nominee advances with four Democratic votes
Aaron Peterson is the second lifetime nominee this week to garner bipartisan support.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate voted to invoke cloture (55-39) on the nomination of Aaron Christian Peterson to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. Four Senate Democrats joined every Republican senator present to vote in favor of advancing Peterson’s nomination.
Senators Durbin, Hassan, Shaheen, and Whitehouse voted to advance Peterson’s nomination — leaving no question that he will be easily confirmed.
Today’s procedural vote comes after a very similar vote last night, when five Senate Democrats supported advancing Clay Fowlkes’ nomination to the federal bench in Arkansas. Earlier today, he was confirmed with the same amount of Democratic support. Senator Kaine supported Fowlkes’ nomination but voted against Peterson today.
Astonishingly, Democrats are supporting these nominees after their responses to questions for the record reveal an unwillingness to displease the president who nominated them.
For example, here’s how Peterson responded:
When asked if Trump lost the 2020 election, he simply responded that “President Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and served as the 46th President of the United States.”
When Senator Booker asked: “Do you believe that President Biden won the 2020 election? Note that this question is not asking who was certified as president in the 2020 election.” — he responded that “President Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and served as the 46th President of the United States. To the extent you are asking about disputes or political statements regarding the conduct of the 2020 presidential election, consistent with the positions of prior judicial nominees when asked questions regarding the 2020 election, I cannot provide such an answer consistent with my ethical obligations as a judicial nominee.”
When asked if he denounces the January 6 insurrection, he stated that “The events of January 6, 2021, are matters of significant political debate which may come before me as a Judge. Events related to January 6, 2021, are also subject to ongoing litigation. Thus, as a judicial nominee, it would be inappropriate for me to answer this question or engage in any political commentary.”
When asked if he believes the attack on January 6 was an insurrection, he repeated the same answer verbatim.
When asked whether he agreed with Mike Davis that Democrats are relentless and evil, he responded that he wasn’t familiar with the statement and that it would be “inappropriate” for him to “comment on the political statements of others.”
When asked whether federal judges are monsters for ruling against the administration, he stated that “This question calls for a response to statements by a political figure regarding ongoing litigation, and I cannot provide such an answer consistent with my ethical obligations as a judicial nominee.”
When asked whether Trump can be elected for a third term, he simply quoted the 22nd Amendment rather than giving a yes or no answer.
His nomination still advanced today with bipartisan support.
As I wrote yesterday — at this perilous time for the United States, the rule of law, and our fragile democracy, voting against this president’s lifetime judicial nominees is truly the least that Senate Democrats and Independents can do in this moment.
Remarkably, as this week’s votes have demonstrated, some of them are not willing to do even that. In total, 18 Senate Democrats and Independents have voted to confirm at least one of Trump’s judicial nominees during his second term.
Again: What are we doing here?
I’ll have more to say about this later in the week.