Senator Blasts Third Circuit Nominee on Social Media
If tweetstorms are real, then judicial nominee David Porter must feel like a lightning rod in the twitterverse right now.
Sen. Bob Casey fired off a series of Twitter attacks at Porter, who is a nominee for the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Porter is a Pennsylvania attorney like Casey, but they are clearly on opposing political sides.
Porter barely made it out of a Senate judiciary committee, and now Casey aims to take him down before the confirmation hearing. With a 280-character limit, however, it might be too little too late.
Lining Up Eggs
Casey, an understated senator before Trump became president, is not waiting for the full-Senate hearing. He's lining up Twitter eggs to throw early.
"David Porter has no judicial experience," Casey began in a series tweets focused on the attorney's legal writings, including criticism of the Violence Against Women Act.
"His published works reveal an ideology that will serve only the wealthy and powerful as opposed to protecting the rights of all Americans," the senator continued. "Mr. Porter has spent his career advocating an ideology that puts special interests, big corporations and those at the top ahead of Pennsylvania families."
But Casey seems more upset that the Trump Administration and the Senate Majority leader are pushing the Senate to "confirm judicial nominees who advocate a hard-right ideology to appease their corporate donors." He said he will not be a "rubber stamp for the extreme right."
Stacked Deck
The senator has been fighting Porter's nomination since he was named. Casey withheld his "blue slip," a traditional sign of approval from home state senators.
"As a lawyer, David Porter has advocated legal theories that stack the deck against workers, deny Pennsylvanians access to health care and undermine the equal protection of our laws for all Americans," Casey said at the time.
The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled the confirmation hearing anyway. It's a fight President Trump has been winning, as other nominees have made it without blue-slip approvals.
Trump is, after all, the Tweeter-in-Chief.
Related Resources:
- Court Upholds Pennsylvania School's Transgender Bathroom Policy (FindLaw's U.S. Third Circuit Blog)
- Mother Gets More Attorney's Fees in School Disabilty Case (FindLaw's U.S. Third Circuit Blog)
- United States Third Circuit Cases (FindLaw's Cases & Codes)