Willett confirmed as federal judge; other Texan gets boot
Jeff Mateer had called transgender children evidence of ‘Satan’s plan.’
It was a split decision Wednesday for federal judge nominees from Texas.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett to be a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the White House pulled back from supporting Jeff Mateer, a top official in the Texas attorney general’s office who had called transgender children evidence of “Satan’s plan,” for a Plano-based federal judge position.
Willett, who had faced sharp questions from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was approved 50-47 along party lines for the New Orleans-based judgeship. Mateer, meanwhile, was cut loose by the White House after he and another judicial nominee came
in for harsh criticism Tuesday from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who asked the White House to reconsider them.
Grassley said Wednesday that Mateer and Brett Talley, a district court nominee from Alabama with no judicial experience already approved by the Judiciary Committee, would not advance, according to discussions he’s had with the White House. Mateer’s comment on transgender children caused a firestorm when it surfaced after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Texas reporters in September that Mateer had not properly disclosed his writings and his views to the judicial review commission that he and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, look to for recommendations on nominees.
People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker said Wednesday, “Jeff Mateer was flagrantly unfit for a lifetime position as a federal judge . ... There is absolutely no way any member of the LGBTQ community could expect fair judgment in any court with Mateer on the bench.”
In a speech in 2015 when he was general counsel of the conservative Liberty Institute, Mateer had warned that samesex marriage could lead to unions with multiple partners, which he described as “disgusting.” In another speech in 2015, Mateer expressed support for conversion therapy, which seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation, often through religious means — a practice that leading psychiatric, medical and pediatric organizations have criticized as harmful.
But it was a successful day for Willett, who — along with James Ho, a Dallas lawyer and former Texas solicitor general expected to be approved for another 5th Circuit Court vacancy as soon as Thursday — is expected to bring conservative legal principles to an appellate court already considered among the most conservative in the country.
“This week is a great week for the state of Texas and for the federal judiciary because this week we will be confirming two exemplary judges to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from the state of Texas: Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett and former Texas Solicitor General Jim Ho,” Cruz said in a speech on the Senate floor. “I have known the both of them for decades.”
Cornyn said in a statement: “Through his principled service on the Texas Supreme Court, Justice Willett has proven his devotion to justice and the rule of law.”
Willett, named the “Twitter Laureate” by the Legislature, continued to draw criticism Wednesday from Democratic senators for things he’d written on Twitter. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a senior member of the judiciary panel, said in a statement, “Mr. Don Willett is a sitting justice on the Texas Supreme Court. That should mean something. Sitting judges have an obligation to exercise good judgment; to not say anything that would lead individuals to question their impartiality.”
Leahy brought up a tweet that he had also highlighted during the confirmation hearing in which Willett appeared to mock a transgender girl who wanted to play on a girls’ softball team by saying, “Go Away, A-Rod.” Willett told the senator that he was joking.
Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, at a news conference about judicial nominations, also singled out Willett as not supportive of women and cited a memo he wrote as an aide to then-Gov. George W. Bush critical of a proclamation in favor of the Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women.
Willett said at the hearing he was supportive of women and only wanted to reword the document.
Willett said in a statement Wednesday, “Returning to the court where I started my legal career as a law clerk a quarter-century ago is an otherworldly privilege. Judging according to the Rule of Law is a sacred trust, one I undertake with gladness, gusto, and gratitude.”