Arlington, VA – Today, President Trump announced his intent to nominate his eighth wave of judicial nominees. Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) is urging Congress to expedite the confirmation of Don Willett and Jim Ho for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit because they are highly-qualified nominees with strong records.
Don Willett currently serves as a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by Governor Perry in 2005, and was then elected to that position by the people of Texas in 2006 and 2012. Jim Ho is currently a partner in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he serves as co-chair of the firm’s appellate and constitutional law practice group. Before joining the firm, Mr. Ho served as Solicitor General of Texas in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas.
CVA Executive Director Mark Lucas issued the following comment:
“Once again, President Trump has selected highly-qualified nominees for our nation’s lower courts. With the outstanding records held by both Don Willett and Jim Ho, Congress should not delay in moving forward with hearings for these nominees. Our nation is facing a judicial crisis with over a hundred vacancies still in our lower courts and we cannot afford to play political games at the expense of a healthy and functioning judiciary. We urge Congress to move forward with votes for these nominees immediately.”
There are currently over 140 vacancies remaining in the federal courts. Last month, CVA launched “Defend the Courts,” an initiative driven to help support qualified judicial nominees and end the arcane Senate tradition of blue-slips, which enables senators to block nominees from their state.
Earlier this year, CVA engaged in an unprecedented grassroots effort in support of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. CVA’s activists made over 350,000 emails and phone calls urging Americans to contact their senators in support of Justice Gorsuch.
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