President Donald Trump’s revamping the federal court system with dozens of new conservative judges will come to an abrupt stop if Sen. Jeff Flake follows through on his threat to put holds on the chief executive’s judicial nominees.
Noting a recent column by George Will, Flake told ABC News “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos that he “and a number of senators, at least a few of us, will stand up and say, ‘Let’s not move any more judges until we get a vote, for example, on tariffs.'”
Flake did not say which other senators might join him in putting holds on Trump nominees.
Under Senate rules, any senator can anonymously put a hold on a presidential nomination, and no confirmation vote will be taken until the holding senator agrees to remove it.
Flake’s threat is a result of his anger over Trump’s moving forward with billions of dollars in tariffs against dozens of products from China, Canada, and the European union. Those countries impose high tariffs and other trade barriers on U.S. products, so Trump is seeking to force a new negotiating process to redress the imbalances.
Flake is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has a tenuous 11-10 Republican majority that mirrors the GOP’s razor-thin 51-48-1 majority on the Senate floor. Democrats have used every available parliamentary maneuver to stall Trump’s judicial nominees, making it extremely difficult for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to move them forward to confirmation.
As a result, in addition to putting a hold on a nominee, due to the close partisan makeup of the judicial panel, Flake can also join with the 10 Democrats to bar any Trump nominee from being reported to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.
Related: Kelli Ward Running Tough for GOP Nomination to Succeed Jeff Flake
Judiciary panel chairman Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday that Flake was responsible for holding up the committee’s consideration of Britt Grant, a Georgia Supreme Court member Trump nominated for a federal appellate judgeship.
Flake also said Sunday on ABC that he believes, “On something like tariffs, for example, the Senate ought to bring legislation to the floor that says, ‘Hey, we’re going push back here. I’m sorry, you’re misusing 232, Canada, Mexico, are not national security threats. The European Union exporting cars to the U.S. does not represent the national security threat, and ought to push back. And if we don’t, why are we there?'”
Section 232 of current trade law allows the president to impose tariffs on imported goods from countries said to be practicing unfair trade policies that harm the U.S.
Senior editor Mark Tapscott can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.
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