by
David
Becker/Getty
Images)
Earlier
this
month
Jennifer
Mascott
became
Donald
Trump’s
most
recent
appointee
to
the
Third
Circuit.
It
was
done
over
the
objections
of
the
home
state
senators;
neither
senator
from
Delaware
returned
their
blue-slip
from
either
Delaware
senator
(the
tradition of
seeking
home
state
senator
approval
before
confirming
a
judge,
which
the
first
Trump
administration abandoned to
get
more
lifetime
appointment
for
conservative
nominees).
And
while
the
Democrats
from
Delaware
might
have
objected
to
a
great
many
potential
nominees,
the
fact
that
Mascott
is
not
a
member
of
the
Delaware
bar
just
added
salt
to
the
wound.
Those
tangential
ties
to
The
First
State
(she
owns
a
vacation
home
there)
—
and
all
the
conservative
bona
fides
—
were
enough
for
Mascott
to
get
the
nod
from
Trump.
As
reported
by
Jezebel:
Mascott,
a
former
law
professor
at
Catholic
University,
is
deeply
conservative,
having clerked for
Supreme
Court
Justice
Clarence
Thomas
and
for
then-appeals
court
judge
Brett
Kavanaugh.
During
Trump’s
first
term,
she worked for
the
Justice
Department
and
assisted
the
White
House
with
the
confirmation
of
Justice
Amy
Coney
Barrett.
She
also
joined
Trump
2.0
earlier
this
year
by
taking
a
job
in
the
White
House
Counsel’s
office.
Mascott
has praised the Dobbs decision
overturning Roe
v.
Wade,
after
saying
that Roe belonged in
“the
dustbin
of
history.” In
late
2021,
while
speaking
at
a
Senate hearing, she
also defended the
court’s
decision
not
to
strike
down
the Texas
bounty
hunter
abortion
ban that
nullified Roe.
Mascott
was
confirmed
by
a
50-47
vote,
with
pro-choice
Republican
Lisa
Murkowski
voting
against
the
nomination.
But
that
isn’t
the
most
controversial
thing
to
happen
to
the
Third
Circuit.
That
dubious
honor,
of
course,
goes
to
the
elevation
of
Emil
Bove.
Nothing
could
stop
the
former
Trump
henchman’s
lifetime
appointment
—
not
a
whistleblower,
not
900
former
DOJ
attorneys
all
screaming
NO,
nothing.
This
all
leaves
the
Third
Circuit
with
a
conservative
majority.
Of
the
14
active
judges
on
the
circuit,
8
were
appointed
by
Republican
judges
and
six
of
those
by
Donald
Trump
himself.
It’s
a
helluva
legacy
he’s
leaving
on
his
sister’s
(the
late
Judge
Maryanne
Trump
Barry)
home
circuit.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].