(CNSNews.com) - President Donald Trump on Monday announced his third wave of federal judicial appointments, and the White House defended the pace of presidential nominations, saying it’s “well on pace with where previous administrations have been.”
Two of the nominees came from the list of potential Supreme Court nominees that President Trump released during the campaign.
“The campaign list was put together from the Heritage Foundation, as well as the Federalist Society, and as the president said last September when it was released, these ‘highly respected people are the kind of scholars that we need to preserve the very core of our country and make it greater than ever before.’ The president followed the principles that were used to guide that list to select the additional eight individuals,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
“These 10 individuals that the president has chosen were chosen for their deep knowledge of the law and their commitment to upholding constitutional principles,” he added.
“I think we’re well on pace with where previous administrations have been -- some ahead, some a little behind -- but we’re doing a great job of filling those key positions and making sure that we get the right person for the right job,” the press secretary said when questioned about the pace at which the administration is making appointments.
Spicer said the administration went about the nominating process of the judicial appointments “in a very methodical way.”
“The process this time around is a little bit different. We're actually going through the Office of Government Ethics and FBI clearances before announcing most of these individuals, and so there’s a little bit of a difference in how we're doing this, but we are well on pace with respect to many of these to get the government up and running,” Spicer explained.
He said, “You’ll continue to see a very robust amount of announcements on not just the judicial front but on several of the fronts.”
Trump made the following judicial nominations: Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana to serve as a Circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, John Bush of Kentucky as a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Joan Larsen of Michigan to serve as a Circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Kevin Newsom of Alabama to serve as a Circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, David Stras to serve as a Circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, David Nye of Idaho to serve as a District judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, Scott Palk of Oklahoma to serve as a District judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, Damien Schiff of California to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Dabney L. Friedrich of Washington, D.C., to serve as a District judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and Terry Moorer of Alabama tp serve as a District judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
Even with the 10 judicial appointments announced Monday, there will still be 110 judicial vacancies to fill.