President Donald Trump reportedly joked that he had to turn down friends who have asked for federal judgeships because they were too old. According to news outlets, the president has said that at a meeting of conservative activists last month. The Washington Post reported that Trump said “I had to tell them no,” made a pause and added that he had someone else tell them no.
The Hill analysis said that the joke is a sign of Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal judiciary by installing young, conservative judges in courts across the country. So far, Trump has nominated 59 people for federal judgeships and 19 have been confirmed by the Senate.
The Post writes that Trump has told his advisers that he is focused on three main criteria: that his nominees be young, conservative and strict constitutionalists. Trump wants the nominees to be under age 50 and preferably under 40. That would allow them to serve for decades and wield long-term influence on American jurisprudence.
“He clearly understands that this is going to be one of his enduring legacies. He is excited about how many more judges he’s going to get to pick. He likes to know the statistics, the facts, and figures,” said Leonard Leo, a Trump adviser on judges and the executive vice president of the Federalist Society.
The White House faced questions about its vetting process for judicial nominees after it pulled the plug on three of them last week. Matthew Petersen failed to answer basic legal questions, Brett Talley, came under scrutiny for his failure to disclose that his wife serves as chief of staff for White House Counsel Don McGahn and for a lack of experience, while Jeff Mateer had to withdraw because he had described transgender youth as being part of “Satan’s plan.”
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