During remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke about President Biden's judicial nominees.
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NewsTranscript
00:00On a different matter, I've spoken repeatedly about how Adele Manji, President Biden's nomination
00:08to the Third Circuit is unqualified for the bench.
00:13But the red flags on this administration's nominees aren't limited to radical associations
00:20and ethical lapses.
00:23Judge Nancy Maldonado, a trial judge nominated to the Seventh Circuit, has distinguished
00:30herself with sheer incompetence.
00:35Thanks to reforms put in place by then Judiciary Committee Chairman Biden, federal courts keep
00:42track of how many fully briefed motions have been sitting without a decision for at least,
00:50quote, voluminous transcripts, briefs to be read, and heavy civil and criminal caseload.
00:59Does the President think his nominees will face less complex cases on the Court of Appeals,
01:09lighter caseloads, less voluminous transcripts or briefs?
01:15Why on earth would our colleagues consider giving new and greater responsibilities to
01:21a judge who is clearly struggling with the one she's already got?
01:26Or for that matter, why would they consider promoting someone whose instinct is to pass
01:32the buck?
01:35I wish I were making this up.
01:36When our colleagues asked Judge Maldonado about her case backlog in written questions,
01:42she blamed her clerks.
01:46That's probably cold comfort to prisoners seeking relief for inhumane treatment or litigants
01:53paying months of legal fees awaiting her decisions.
01:56Apparently, it's not the woman with the Judicial Commission who's responsible for justice delayed.
02:05It's the 25-year-old brand-new lawyers on her staff.
02:10But passing the buck is what Judge Maldonado does.
02:16The junior senator for Louisiana asked her how she defined assault weapon in a brief
02:23supporting Illinois assault weapon ban.
02:28And the judge said she didn't know because she didn't write the brief.
02:32She was only, get this, the counsel of record.
02:38Do our colleagues really expect a promotion to the Court of Appeals to turn things around?
02:44Do they really think one of the nation's least productive jurists actually deserves such
02:51a promotion?
02:52It doesn't have to be like this.
02:55Without even leaving Chicago, Washington Democrats will find a different trial judge, Judge Mary
03:02Rowland.
03:03Judge Rowland has impeccable liberal credentials.
03:08She satisfies the left's desired diversity metrics.
03:13The only difference?
03:15She's actually good at her job.
03:18Her Biden list is three cases.
03:23And her reason?
03:24These opinions are being drafted but need to have hearings, complex cases, and voluminous
03:30briefings don't faze Judge Rowland.
03:34So, Mr. President, this matters.
03:38The Seventh Circuit is a busy court.
03:40They hear oral arguments for every case that has a lawyer and publish all of these opinions
03:47as precedent.
03:49It's also the last stop for almost all litigants in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.
03:55Confirming Judge Maldonado to that court would be taking a judge who has proven herself
04:01incapable of swimming in the shallow end of the pool and throwing her into Lake Michigan.
04:09The people and litigants of the Seventh Circuit deserve better.
04:13And if my colleagues want to see basic competence in their judges, they ought to reject this
04:19nominee.