Political Quotes

“I oppose the nomination of Lawrence VanDyke to fill a Nevada seat on the Ninth Circuit. When my Republican colleagues decided to abandon blue slips for circuit court seats, many on our side warned that we would start to see nominees with little connection to the States in which they were nominated to sit. Those warnings are coming true. We saw it earlier this year, when the Senate approved the nomination of Daniel Bress to fill a California seat on the Ninth Circuit, even though he had barely lived or practiced in California as an adult. Now, we are seeing it again with Mr. VanDyke, whose ties to Nevada are minimal. He did not grow up in Nevada or attend any schools there. He did not move to Nevada until 2015, after he had lost a race for the State supreme court of Montana. He did not become an active member of the Nevada Bar until October 2017. He does not have family ties to Nevada. He does not currently live in Nevada. Since he moved to Virginia 8 months ago, he has not been to Nevada even once. Mr. VanDyke's only real tie to Nevada is that he was given a job there for a few years as solicitor general, apparently as a landing spot after he lost his race in Montana. There are many longtime members of the Nevada legal community who are well qualified to serve as a Federal circuit court judge. But none of them will get the chance to fill this seat. Instead, Senate Republicans are going to rubber-stamp someone with minimal Nevada ties for this Nevada judgeship.…”