Trump Drains The Swamp, Keeps His Promise with Judge Justin Walker

President Trump continues his record-breaking transformation of the federal judiciary with the selection of Judge Justin Walker -- a young, brilliant conservative legal mind and everyday American -- for the United States Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit. Walker, a new federal trial judge in Louisville, Kentucky, is a first-generation college graduate, an outside-the-beltway legal powerhouse, and a committed constitutionalist who understands a judge’s modest, but critical, role is to interpret the law as written -- not how that judge wishes it were written if he were a senator. Very few Trump could pick for this sought-after seat would better demonstrate the president’s commitment to draining the swamp.

The D. C. Circuit -- often called the “Second Highest Court in the Land” -- stands out among the federal courts in many ways, including the large number of cases the court hears challenging regulations produced by the myriad administrative agencies in Washington. But another distinction is that, historically, the judges of the D.C. Circuit have been selected from across the country -- not just from Washington. The court currently has members who were selected from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Colorado. President Obama, by contrast, chose four (liberal) judges in a row from D.C. Now President Trump has once again shown how serious he is about giving everyday Americans -- like Walker -- the opportunity to lend their service to government, including in the judicial branch.

Walker’s impeccable credentials, his dedication to principled judging, and his reputation for collegiality will impress any American who takes an honest look at his record. (Sadly, that rules out almost all Senate Democrats.) Walker was born and raised in Louisville by his mother, who, like all of his grandparents, did not graduate from college. Yet Walker graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Duke and magna cum laude from Harvard Law, then went on to clerk for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the D. C. Circuit (the court to which Walker is nominated) and Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court of the United States. Walker briefly worked at an elite D.C. law firm before having enough of the swamp and returning home to Kentucky, where he practiced law and became a tenure-track professor at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and, a few years later, a federal judge. Now he is the youngest nominee to the D.C. Circuit in a generation. His is an American success story.

President Trump’s remarkable success in transforming the federal courts is a result of his insistence on conservative, principled, younger-than-average judges, who strictly follow our Constitution and other laws instead of their personal whims. At his investiture as a federal judge, Walker responded to critics who call conservatives “terrifying” and “deplorable”: “there’s nothing ‘terrifying’ about the original meaning of our Constitution, and there’s nothing ‘deplorable’ about defending it.” We should all agree.

Not only is he a strong defender ... (Read more)

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