President Trump has nominated Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), to fill Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s seat on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
It’ll be interesting to see how Democrats go about trying to destroy an Indian-American nominee simply because she was nominated by Trump.
The President had planned to make the announcement on Wednesday, but opted to do so during a Diwali ceremonial lighting ceremony at the White House on Tuesday, saying, “We’re never gonna do better than this – I thought it was an appropriate place.”
“She’s going to be fantastic – great person,” Trump beamed.
Whoa. Trump’s deregulation leader Neomi Rao to the federal court — to assume seat vacated by Kavnanaugh
— Debra J. Saunders (@debrajsaunders) November 13, 2018
The DC Circuit is often identified as the second most important court in the country, with jurisdiction over important national security and regulatory issues, a subject where Rao has made a name for herself.
Rao is strongly against burdensome regulations
Rao has been a driving force behind the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate two regulations for every new one implemented, a plan that rivals that of the Reagan era.
In fact, reports this past month have them on pace to eliminate 12 regulations for each new one, a plan that “reaffirms the principles of individual liberty and limited government essential to reform,” according to Rao.
“We are cutting regulations at a pace that has never even been thought of before,” Pres. Trump tells NAM https://t.co/HarcUS5aO0 pic.twitter.com/JGt8W5p04p
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 29, 2017
Rao even played a role in killing Barack Obama’s ‘wage gap’ regulations, an onerous proposition that would require businesses with over 100 employees (and federal contractors with over 50) to collect data on how much they pay workers of different sexes, races, and ethnicities.
“We don’t believe it would actually help us gather information about wage and employment discrimination,” Rao claimed. “It’s enormously burdensome.”
She would later tout the “momentum for reform” transforming government agencies into organizations focused on “complete substantial deregulatory actions.”
Less government sounds good to me.
How will the Democrats treat Rao?
Thanks to Democrats eliminating the filibuster, Rao, who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and worked as associate counsel and special assistant to President George W. Bush, will only need a majority vote.
NEW: Pres Trump just announced at WH Diwali ceremony that he has nominated Neomi Rao to take Brett Kavanaugh’s seat on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
He said he was going to announce it tomorrow but seemed delighted to do it in person.
— Karen Travers (@karentravers) November 13, 2018
Democrats will likely oppose her based on regulatory rollbacks supposedly detrimental to the environment, but we don’t expect to see anything like the Kavanaugh circus. However, the Democrats are already preparing to oppose her:
Opposition to Neomi Rao’s forthcoming nomination to the DC Circuit is already pouring in from liberal advocacy groups: “Rao has never seen a regulation she didn’t hate,” was one comment https://t.co/K116G7HMgP
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 13, 2018
Here’s just one criticism from a liberal group already opposed to her nomination, via BuzzFeed News:
“Rao has never seen a regulation she didn’t hate, and as a judge would dismantle 40 years of environmental and social progress,” Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Her confirmation would be the most damaging and regressive yet by Trump after Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.”
Expect to see liberals coming out against her in droves as her impeccable record becomes more and more public.
