With two vacancies now on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, President Donald Trump’s nominee for an Indiana seat faced tough questioning on Capitol Hill while bar and civil rights groups called for change on the Chicago-based court, the only all-white federal appeals bench in the nation.
Other than Wisconsin, every state appears to have met a deadline in federal law that essentially means Congress has to accept the electoral votes that will be cast next week and sent to the Capitol for counting on Jan. 6. Those votes will elect Joe Biden as the country’s next president.
Lawmakers are giving themselves more time to sort through their end-of-session business on government spending and COVID-19 relief, preparing a one-week stopgap spending bill that would prevent a shutdown this weekend.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held consideration of Thomas Kirsch’s nomination until its Dec. 10 meeting, putting the U.S. Attorney for the Northern Indiana District’s confirmation to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in a tight race against the clock.
A high-profile Indianapolis attorney and law firm is representing President Donald Trump in the latest lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of last month’s presidential election in Wisconsin, one of several decisive states narrowly won by President-elect Joe Biden.
Judge Joel Flaum of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals took senior status Monday, creating another vacancy on the appellate court that has welcomed four new judges and is preparing for a fifth since Donald Trump became president in 2017. Flaum has served on the federal appellate bench for 37 years.
The lack of diversity on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals – which would remain unchanged if nominee Thomas Kirsch II is confirmed to fill the current vacancy – is prompting minority groups to speak out and call upon elected officials and the judiciary to appoint judges from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
During his allotted time to question Thomas Kirsch II about his potential confirmation to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, bypassed all inquiries about the judiciary and pressed the nominee on the flow of guns from Indiana to Chicago.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Monday she will step down from her role as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving up the powerful spot after public criticism of her bipartisan outreach and her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings.
Former Watergate sleuth Carl Bernstein took to Twitter to list the names of 21 Republican senators who he says have “repeatedly expressed contempt” for Donald Trump and his fitness to be president. Included on Bernstein’s tweet was Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young.
As many judicial nominees before him have done, Thomas Kirsch II told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that he would apply the law as written but his explanations of how he would interpret statutes brought intense scrutiny from senators on both sides of aisle.
The U.S. Supreme Court is putting off upcoming arguments about whether Congress should have access to secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana Thomas Kirsch II is scheduled to appear before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday as he begins the confirmation process to fill the vacancy on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals created by the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The presidential race was hovering in limbo in 2000 when outgoing President Bill Clinton decided to let then-Gov. George W. Bush read the ultra-secret daily brief of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence.
A U.S. Senate subcommittee has proposed a $6 million increase in funding for the Legal Services Corporation, potentially providing additional support as more legal aid offices are bracing for higher demand caused by the worsening COVID-19 crisis.
President Donald Trump is facing pressure to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s team to ensure a smooth transfer of power when the new administration takes office in January.
Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody does not plan to seek another term as the leader of the party after years of tough election losses.
Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path, which increasingly appeared to lead through court challenges.
Democrats had a disappointing night in the battle for Senate control, but it was too soon for Republicans to take a victory lap Wednesday, although they brushed back multiple challengers to protect their now teetering majority.
The newest — and youngest — justice ascended to the nation’s highest court just shy of three years after her confirmation to the federal bench from the classrooms of her alma mater, the University of Notre Dame Law School.