Before noon today, we’ll begin our first set of votes on the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer to serve as Circuit Judge of the Sixth Circuit.
Before we do, I want to express my support for her nomination and urge my colleagues to support her nomination and confirm her.
Ms. Hermandorfer is President Trump’s first judicial nominee, and she really is a home-run pick – or to use a more appropriate expression for a former basketball player, her nomination is “nothing but net.”
Ms. Hermandorfer’s list of accolades is something to behold.
She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University and was co-captain of her basketball team.
She was valedictorian at George Washington Law School, and clerked for three of the current Supreme Court Justices, as well as another federal judge.
Currently, Ms. Hermandorfer is Director of [the] Strategic Litigation Unit in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and has led some of the most important litigation in our country – including a recent victory before the Supreme Court.
At her hearing, we witnessed firsthand her impressive intellect, composure under pressure, professionalism and collegial nature.
Her performance at her hearing was no surprise to anyone who knows her.
Her nomination has been praised by practitioners and academics from across the political spectrum.
They understand that Ms. Hermandorfer is dedicated to following the rule of law, not to advancing her preferred policy outcomes.
Too often, we’ve seen judges play policymaker instead of being just simply a jurist.
Ms. Hermandorfer understands the powerful role that judges have in our system of government, but even more importantly, she respects the limitations of that power.
During the Biden administration, a substantial majority of judicial nominees received bipartisan support – in fact, more than 80 percent of his nominees got bipartisan support.
Republicans wouldn’t have picked most of those judges, but many of them still got support from my side of the aisle.
Given her impeccable qualifications, I hope we can have the same bipartisan support today for Ms. Hermandorfer.
Otherwise, it just shows how political[ly] partisan the other side has become.
The Senate’s advice and consent role for judicial nominees is one of our most important jobs.
Sometimes these decisions can be difficult. But in this case, it’s pretty simple.
I’m confident Ms. Hermandorfer will be an excellent judge, and I urge my colleagues to support her nomination.
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