Source: 30dB.com – The%20Federalist%20Society
While Trump had a handpicked group of finalists for the role, he originally outsourced the selection process to the right-wing Federalist Society. Out of 25 names the White House released as possible Supreme Court justices, 24 are members of the Federalist Society, which emphasizes strict constitutionalist interpretations of laws and is chock full of conservatives and libertarians. For that very reason, Democratic senators had lined up against the eventual selection even before Trump had made his decision. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said over the weekend, “I’ve never seen a president of the United States in effect make himself a puppet of outside groups and choose from a group of right-wing fringe ideologues.” Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) echoed those remarks on Twitter. As The Daily Beast notes, it’s not just the Supreme Court on which the Federalist Society has left its imprint. The Beast pointed out that “of the 18 people Trump has nominated to federal appeals courts, 17 are Federalist Society members or affiliates.” But on Twitter, there’s a mixed bag of reactions over the Prez getting some outside guidance rather than making a freewheeling Trumpian move. Over the past 90 days, “The Federalist Society” has a 51 percent positive score on Twitter. –Alex Shultz
Republished from 30dB