The Senate confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s first second-term pick for a U.S. appeals court Wednesday was dominated by senators debating the shifting influence of the American Bar Association and the Federalist Society in the judicial nomination process.
The debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee came as the panel considered Whitney Hermandorfer’s nomination for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and followed U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi’s announcement that the Trump administration was cutting the ABA out of the process. Bondi cited a long-held complaint among conservatives that the group has a liberal bias in its ratings for nominees.