Sen. David Perdue: Senate needs to pick up pace confirming Trump nominees

WASHINGTON — Five federal judges were confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week, but Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said Monday the pace of approving Trump administration nominees in general needs to pick up.

Perdue blamed the lag time on Democrats.

“The United States Senate has been stalled by historic obstruction from Senate Democrats,” Perdue said. “Despite this partisan gridlock, we confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court earlier this year and have since confirmed 15 judicial nominees, including eight judges to the powerful United States Circuit Courts. These judges will help shape the direction of the courts for years to come.”

He said the jurist confirmations are a bright spot for the political body.

“Unlike most things in Washington, we are moving quickly to get more judges in place,” Perdue said. “By comparison, in Obama’s first year in office, only three Circuit Court judges were confirmed.

“While we are making significant progress, there is still a lot more work to be done. President Trump has been in office for 10 months now and still doesn’t have his full team in place. Washington needs to pick up the pace and get all of President Trump’s nominees confirmed as quickly as possible.”

Perdue said there are still 145 federal judge vacancies, with 39 nominations pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Last week, the Senate confirmed Trevor N. McFadden to serve as a judge on the Washington, D.C., District Court in an 84-10 vote; Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals with a 55-43 vote; Joan Louise Larsen to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals with a 60-38 vote; Allison H. Eid to the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals with a 56-41 vote, and Stephanos Bibas to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals with a 53-43.

Perdue and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., supported all five of the nominees last week.