Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) supports President Joe Biden’s nominee to a federal appeals court despite outcry from some Democrats over his signature on a legal brief defending an abortion restriction in New Hampshire.
Michael Delaney, Biden’s nominee for the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, says he had “extremely limited involvement” in the 2005 brief, which defended a since-repealed state law requiring parental notification for abortions.
BIDEN JUDICIAL NOMINEE JEOPARDIZED BY DEMOCRATIC CONCERNS OVER SIGNATURE ON ABORTION CASE
Yet Delaney, who was New Hampshire’s deputy attorney general at the time, continues to receive scrutiny from Democratic senators concerned about the brief as well as his handling of a 2015 case in which Delaney requested that an underage sexual assault victim’s identity be unmasked if the suit went to trial.
Asked whether he supports the nominee despite those concerns, Schumer told reporters on Wednesday that Delaney would be an “outstanding judge.”
“I do. I support his nomination. I’ve looked over everything about him,” he said at a press conference.
His support echoes that of Delaney’s home state senators, Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, who stood by him despite a rocky Senate confirmation hearing in February.
Republican senators at the hearing grilled Delaney over the sexual assault case, while nearly all Democrats on the Judiciary Committee declined to attend.
“I’m astounded you’ve been nominated,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said at the hearing. “People who put sexual assault victims through this kind of torture shouldn’t sit on the bench.”
But scrutiny of the legal brief has come from Democrats more concerned than ever about how judicial nominees will rule in abortion cases after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
“For me personally, reproductive rights is a fundamental, core issue,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told the Associated Press. “And I think I’d want to know why he put his name on the brief and what it reflects in his personal view.”
In addition to Blumenthal, Democratic Sens. Cory Booker (NJ) and Mazie Hirono (HI) have expressed reservations.
The White House has responded to the skepticism by emphasizing Delaney’s decades of legal experience.
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“He is well-qualified to serve in this important position,” a White House spokesman told the Associated Press in a statement. “The White House expects Senators to take his full record into account when evaluating his nomination.”
Delaney’s nomination is not expected to advance this week in the Senate, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) absence leaving the Judiciary Committee deadlocked 10-10 between Republicans and Democrats.
