Judiciary Snapshot: Trump Nominees Confirmed Oct. 14-18

Volk has worked as an adjunct lecturer at the West Virginia University College of Law since 2005 and served in decade-long clerkships for Judges Charles Haden and John Copenhaver on the court on which he will now serve.

While Volk's experience is not typical of most federal judges, he told senators in response to questions submitted after his nomination hearing that he sees it as an asset.

"For two decades as a law clerk, I was steeped in some of the most unusual, complex, challenging and demanding civil and criminal litigation to be had in multiple districts throughout the Fourth Circuit," Volk wrote to Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "I believe this experience will be of inestimable and unparalleled value if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed. There is nothing that could have prepared me more thoroughly for the tasks that hopefully lie ahead."

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Beyond the four judges confirmed, six others drew a step closer to confirmation after being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning.

David Barlow, up for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, John Kness, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and Austin Huffaker, chosen for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, all received bipartisan support, clearing the committee in identical 19-3 votes.

Senators Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, all of whom are seeking the Democratic nomination for president, were the only Democrats to oppose their nominations.

Justin Walker, a nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, goes to the Senate floor with considerably more opposition. Though he comes to the committee with high praise from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has rated him not qualified for the position.

The committee faulted Walker, who is 37, for the brief time he has been out of law school and for his lack of "significant trial experience," as he has never served as lead counsel on a trial.

A Harvard Law School graduate, Walker currently works as a law professor at the University of Louisville, having completed clerkships after law school for then-D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

Walker told the committee during his nomination hearing in July that his clerkships and time as a professor have prepared him "to analyze the kinds of complex legal questions that judges deal with, especially in the majority of what they do, which is motion work."

But his responses did not calm the nerves of Democrats, who said the Trump administration should look for a more qualified attorney to take the seat.

"I find it hard to believe there's a shortage of experienced, conservative attorneys and state-court judges in Kentucky who could hit the ground running as a federal judge," Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting before the panel advanced the nomination.

Democrats also questioned Walker's support of Kavanaugh during his contested confirmation process, as he once called the process a "farce" after multiple women accused the judge of sexual misconduct dating back to his time in high school and college.

Facing similar opposition from Democrats was Lee Rudofsky, the former Arkansas solicitor general who is now nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Like many Trump nominees who served as top attorneys for red states, Rudofsky faced opposition from Democrats over legal positions he took on behalf of the state while in the job. In particular, Democrats opposed his defense of a state ban on abortion after 12 weeks and of a voter identification law.

He also raised eyebrows on the left during his nomination hearing when he disavowed briefs he signed while out of government that urged the Supreme Court to strike down state bans on gay marriage.

Both Rudofsky and Walker cleared the committee with party-line, 12-10 votes.

The final nominee the committee advanced is Eleni Roumel, who is nominated to the Court of Federal Claims, a specialty court that hears claims against the federal government. Unlike other federal courts established under Article III of the Constitution, the court is established under Article I and its nominees serve 15-year terms.

Roumel currently serves in the White House as deputy counsel to Vice President Mike Pence. She previously served as assistant general counsel in the House of Representatives Office of General Counsel while Republicans held the House.

The committee advanced her nomination on a 12-10 vote.

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