Texan gets panel’s nod for federal judge post
Democrats objected to his views on LGBT, contraceptive rights.
It has become a familiar scene at the Senate Judiciary Committee: A Texas nominee for a federal judicial post gets blasted by Democrats before being approved on a party-line vote.
On Thursday, the committee, which includes both Texas GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, considered the nomination of Matthew Kacsmaryk for a district judgeship in Amarillo as Democrats sharply criticized his writings and comments on LGBT rights and women’s contraceptive rights.
Kacsmaryk, deputy general counsel of First Liberty Institute in Plano, was approved 11-10 but not before Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., cited the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national organizations, which
is opposed to him.
“He is an anti-LGBT activist and culture warrior who does not respect the equal dignity of all people,” she said, reading from a letter from the conference. “His record reveals a hostility to LGBT equality and to women’s health, and he would not be able to rule fairly and impartially in cases involving those issues.” In one case, said Feinstein, “Mr. Kacsmaryk wanted health care providers to be able to discriminate against LGBT individuals.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., also singled out Kacsmaryk for his work at First Liberty, which has been involved in high-profile cases involving religious liberty. “It’s very hard for me to believe he can leave his advocacy in the robing room,” Whitehouse said.
Cornyn did not mention Kacsmaryk by name but asked Whitehouse if a lawyer should be disqualified because of his client. Whitehouse replied that the test should be whether the nominee “as a private citizen has been so ardent or extreme.”
The panel cleared nominees for 14 district judgeships and three circuit court judge positions as well as several other executive nominations. Kacsmaryk was one of several of the candidates who were nominated last year — he had his confirmation hearing in December — but were not approved by the Senate before the end of the year. President Donald Trump recently renominated Kacsmaryk and dozens of others so the Senate can vote on their nominations for the lifetime appointments.
Two appellate court nominees from Texas — former Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett and former Solicitor General James Ho — were approved last year by the Senate and installed as judges on the powerful 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Trump is about to create another opening on the appellate court with Wednesday’s nomination of Edward Prado, a Texas judge on the 5th Circuit court, to be ambassador to Argentina.
Much of the focus in the committee’s Thursday meeting centered on a North Carolina judicial nominee who has been accused of engaging in voter suppression of African-Americans. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus attended the hearing — and were acknowledged by several senators — as two new African-American members of the panel, Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., spoke out against the North Carolina nominee.
There are a number of Texas nominees for senior positions in the Trump administration who had to be renominated this year after they failed to get Senate approval in 2017.
On Wednesday, one of those nominees, Austin native Brian Montgomery, was approved by the Senate Banking Committee to be an assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development, a position that would make him the federal housing commissioner. He held the same post during the George W. Bush administration. Several Democrats voted against Montgomery, having earlier criticized him for his consulting work that included representing banks and lenders before the Federal Housing Administration.
Other Texans awaiting confirmation hearings include:
Kathleen Hartnett White, former chairwoman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, nominated to head the Council on Environmental Quality. Democrats have strongly opposed her nomination for her climate change skepticism.
Susan Combs, former Texas comptroller and Texas agriculture commissioner, nominated to be assistant secretary of interior.
James “Trey” Trainor, a partner in the Austin office of Akerman LLP, nominated to be a member of the Federal Election Commission for a term expiring April 30, 2023.
Brett Giroir, a former CEO of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center and now president and CEO of Houston biotech ViraCyte of Texas, nominated to be medical director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and to be an assistant secretary of health and human services.