Trump drops appeals court nominee opposed by Arkansas senators

The White House withdrew President Donald Trump’s nomination of U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday after Sens. John Boozman (R-AR) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) opposed his elevation.Trump will instead nominate their preferred candidate, Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Cody Hiland.The swap came a day after Trump urged the Senate to confirm 25 federal judges before Democrats take control of the chamber in January. If confirmed, Hiland would give Trump appointees a majority of active judges on a federal appeals court for the first time. “Without the support of my home-state Senators, confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in today’s Senate,” Rudofsky said in a statement. “So I understand completely the President’s decision to withdraw my nomination.”The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday morning that Boozman was the chief source of resistance to Rudofsky’s nomination. Neither Arkansas senator introduced Rudofsky at his September confirmation hearing, a departure from the customary role of home-state senators.Earlier Tuesday, as conservatives criticized his opposition to Rudofsky’s elevation, Boozman issued a statement praising the judge’s work on the district court. “I continue to appreciate Judge Rudofsky’s service in the Eastern District of Arkansas,” he said.Asked by the Washington Examiner on Tuesday whether he was working with Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) to block Rudofsky, Boozman replied, “Would that be wrong?” Pressed on whether he was doing so, he said, “My conversations with fellow senators are conversations between us.”Cornyn and Tillis both sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would have had to vote to advance Rudofsky’s nomination to the full Senate. Neither will be members during the next Congress.Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, speculated “whether there is time to confirm Hiland,” given the time remaining before the next Congress begins in January.“But what happened today in SJC suggests that GOP members don’t care about niceties or the processes needed to properly scrutinize an appellate nominee, which promises to continue the downward spiral,” he said.The Arkansas fight underscored how much sway home-state senators can have as Republicans race to confirm Trump’s judicial picks before January. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told the Washington Examiner he would withhold his vote on three other nominees unless their home-state senators sign off.In Texas, Cornyn has yet to say whether he will back T. Elliot Gaiser for the Northern District of Texas, whose nomination bypassed the state’s usual vetting process. Cornyn has expressed support for Trump’s other Texas pick, state Supreme Court Justice James Sullivan, who lost his election last week. In Oklahoma, Sen. Alan Armstrong (R-OK) has raised questions about district court nominee Zach West, but his window to influence the nomination is closing. Armstrong is set to resign Nov. 30, when Sen.-elect Kevin Hern is scheduled to be sworn in.Meanwhile, some critics who wanted Rudofsky to be confirmed pointed to Hiland’s comments to law students in August, in which he openly admitted that he had expected to be picked for the appeals court and had turned down an offer of a district court seat. He would succeed Judge Bobby Shepherd, a George W. Bush appointee who plans to take senior status once his successor is confirmed.TRUMP CALLS ON SENATE TO CONFIRM REMAINING 25 JUDGES AMID ARKANSAS SENATOR FRICTIONTrump appointed Rudofsky, a former Arkansas solicitor general, to the Eastern District of Arkansas in 2019. Rudofsky said he would be “forever grateful” to Trump for the nomination and called Hiland “a solid jurist and a good friend.”“I look forward to working with him in the federal judiciary,” Rudofsky said.