Nominee’s silence vexes questioners

WASHINGTON — Senators from both parties criticized a federal appeals court nominee for declining to answer questions Wednesday about his work in President Donald Trump’s White House and Education Department.

Steven Menashi, an associate White House counsel, has been nominated by Trump for the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Menashi refused to answer questions from Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Dick Durbin of Illinois about his work on immigration issues, including a policy to separate migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat, called Menashi’s refusal to answer unprecedented and added that “his attempts to hide his record raise serious questions about his fitness for the federal bench.”

Durbin said, “I really don’t understand the purpose of this hearing if the nominee before us cannot answer a basic question about his personal values.”

Menashi’s silence also frustrated Republicans, including the committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who urged the nominee to be more forthcoming.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Menashi that while he is “a really smart guy,” he needs to answer questions from senators. “This isn’t supposed to be a game,” he told Menashi.

Menashi said he understood the senators’ frustration but that he could not answer questions about his White House work, citing confidentiality concerns.

Feinstein questioned that stance, saying other judicial nominees who worked for previous presidents had answered general questions about the nature of their work.

Menashi’s nomination was already contentious because of his past writings, including some in which he criticized “leftist multiculturism” and accused gay-rights groups of exploiting the 1998 slaying of gay student Matthew Shepard.

Menashi also has drawn criticism for his work on immigration with White House adviser Stephen Miller and for his work at the Education Department, including on a policy that offered new guidance on investigating campus sexual assaults.

Critics say the change allows schools to apply a tougher standard of evidence for sexual violence than other civil-rights cases and violates Title IX, a federal law forbidding discrimination based on sex in education.

“I really don’t understand the purpose of this hearing if the nominee before us cannot answer a basic question about his personal values.”

— Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois