Kennedy introduces bill to cut left-wing D.C. bureaucracy out of judicial nomination process

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act, which would ensure the President of the United States has greater latitude to nominate qualified candidates without interference from partisan Washington, D.C., bureaucracy.

"The President of the United States ought to be able to nominate the most qualified candidates to Washington, D.C., judgeships without being subject to the whims of far-left D.C. bureaucrats. The District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act would fix this broken system and break Washington wokers' grip on D.C. courts," said Kennedy.

The bill would specifically strip the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission (JNC) from the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.

The JNC, a seven-member body, presents presidents with a three-person shortlist of candidates for every vacant judgeship on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The D.C. Home Rule Act purports to limit presidents to only nominating candidates from that shortlist.

At present, the JNC also suffers from left-wing bias. The D.C. Home Rule Act allots certain JNC seats to appointees of the mayor of Washington, D.C., the District of Columbia Bar and the far-left Council of the District of Columbia.

Kennedy's bill is a companion to Rep. Pete Sessions' (R-Texas) H.R. 5125, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on Wednesday.

"I am proud my bill to abolish the DC Judicial Nomination Commission has passed the House. As the son of a federal judge, I have a great respect for the judiciary and the process Constitutionally ordained to ensure fairness in our courts. As it stands, the DC Judicial Nomination Commission has too often prioritized politics over justice, creating delays and heavy caseloads. The President must be able to quickly nominate judges to fill vacancies that allow criminals to escape justice. The DC courts must be equipped to do their job: hold criminals accountable, protect victims, and maintain order in our nation's capital," said Sessions.

Full text of the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act is available here.