Senate Confirms Trump’s First Judicial Pick To Replace Obama Appointee

Following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Senate Republicans are turning their focus to confirming President Donald Trump’s judicial picks.

The Senate confirmed Whitney Hermandorfer to a lifetime appointment on the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a vote along party lines Monday evening. The successful confirmation vote follows the Senate processing 92 of the president’s civilian nominees thus far, nearly doubling the confirmation pace at this point during the president’s first term.

“Our job now is to continue the good work that we began during the first Trump administration by filling those vacancies with more judges who understand the proper role of a judge,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said during a floor speech Thursday. “And that starts with confirming Ms. Hermandorfer.”

Hermandorfer, 38, was Trump’s first judicial appointment of his second term. She will replace an appointee of former President Barack Obama on the federal bench.

There are roughly 50 judicial vacancies on the federal bench today, which is less than half the amount that were unfilled at the beginning of Trump’s first term in office.

Thune said Thursday that he will work with Trump and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley to quickly process the nominees appointed by the president. The judiciary panel has advanced five judicial appointee’s nominations, including Hermandorfer, thus far.

Hermandorfer previously clerked for Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett. She also clerked for Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The judicial nominee leads a strategic litigation effort within Republican Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office. Skrmetti won a significant victory in June following the Supreme Court ruling in June upholding Tennessee’s ban on child sex change procedures.

Trump praised Hermandorfer as a “staunch defender of Girls’ and Women’s Sports” when he announced her appointment in May.

Senate Democrats did not consent to a time agreement to expedite Hermandorfer’s nomination. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer referred to the judicial nominee as “unqualified to serve on the bench.”

“She has made a career out of going after people’s reproductive rights, their transgender rights and anti-discrimination policies,” Schumer claimed during a floor speech Thursday.

The vote on Hermandorfer’s confirmation was the 384th roll call vote taken since the beginning of the 119th Congress in January. The number of roll call votes taken thus far considerably outpaces every Congress in the last 35 years, according to the Senate GOP leadership-aligned Senate Republican Communications Center.

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