Sinks judicial nominee

Tim Scott sinks Trump judicial nominee

The South Carolina senator opposed Thomas Farr over the nominee's record on voting rights.

By MARIANNE LEVINE and BURGESS EVERETT

Tim Scott has done it again.

The South Carolina Republican will oppose Thomas Farr to be a District Court judge, effectively killing the nomination on the Senate floor. It's the second judge the Senate's lone African-American GOP senator has tanked this year over their views and actions on race.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Scott cited "lingering concerns about issues that could affect [Farr's] decision-making process as a federal judge" in opposing Farr. It was a reference to Farr's alleged connection to former Sen. Jesse Helms' intimidation campaigns against black voters.

"This week, a Department of Justice memo written under President George H.W. Bush was released that shed new light on Mr. Farr’s activities. This, in turn, created more concerns. Weighing these important factors, this afternoon I concluded that I could not support Mr. Farr’s nomination," said Scott. In July he and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) rebelled against Ryan Bounds' nomination to another lifetime appointment after examining his writings on race, forcing the White House to withdraw Bounds.

On Farr, Scott's "no" vote came during a perfect storm of opposition.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) also opposed the nomination, though it was part of his stand against all judicial nominees in order to force a vote on a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller. And all Democrats came out early against the nomination, as they were trying desperately to sway Scott and other squeamish Republicans to block Farr's lifetime appointment over his voting rights record.

“Senator Tim Scott has done a courageous thing, and he’s done the right thing. Thomas Farr has been involved in the sordid practice of voter suppression for decades and never should have been nominated, let alone confirmed to the bench. Thankfully, he won’t be," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

After voting to advance Farr's nomination on Wednesday, Scott, Rubio and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) began re-examining the nomination following the Washington Post's publication of a Justice Department memo detailing Farr's connection to Helms's campaigns. Helms’ campaign sent postcards targeting African-American voters that suggested they were not eligible to vote. Farr was a lawyer for the campaign at the time.

Rubio and Collins had already endorsed Farr earlier in the week, but there were signs that his nomination was in jeopardy earlier Thursday, when the Senate delayed a final vote on the judge to next week. In addition to Scott, Murkowski and Collins said that they were undecided Thursday, even after Murkowski's office said she did not intend to block the nominee.

Murkowski said that "it's fair to say I'm still looking at some of the issues that have been raised" and Collins said she was reviewing the Justice Department memo.

All three senators voted to move forward with the nomination Wednesday during a procedural vote. But Scott showed signs of hesitation, voting an hour after the scheduled time and sounding increasingly dour in his comments.

"I should issue a statement saying that I'm not saying anything else. I continue to contemplate this decision," he said in an interview.

Democrats blasted Farr for defending a North Carolina voter ID law for that an appellate court struck down for targeting African-American voters and criticized Republicans for keeping the seat open for twelve years by blocking two of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees for the role. And the NAACP asked for Farr to be withdrawn.

"The Senate does not have the votes to confirm Farr, and hopefully it never will," said Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP. "He should never be confirmed."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) office referred questions about whether the vote on Farr will still occur next week to the White House, which did not immediately comment.

The Congressional Black Caucus, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law also opposed Farr's nomination.