Be Careful What You Wish For

One thing is clear. If the miserable slug from Nevada had not undone the filibuster in his zeal to get rafts of Obama judicial nominees, President Trump would not have a single cabinet member confirmed. Not a one.

• Education Secretary: Betsy DeVos confirmed on a voted 51-50.
• Attorney General: Jeff Sessions confirmed 52-47.
• HHS Secretary: Tom Price confirmed 52-47.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the injunction against the travel ban was upheld by the ninth circuit by a margin of 3-0.

Sessions had not yet been confirmed and the lawyers from the Justice Department who argued the case were holdovers from the Obama regime, so there was no real motivation to put much effort in their argument.

It is paramount that the Republicans get Neil Gorsuch confirmed to SCOTUS before the case is heard there. With a 4-4 split, if Kennedy sides with the originalists in deciding such action is within the purview of presidential power, the lower court ruling would stand. It will eventually be reinstated, but the when is unknown.

Dianne Feinstein Regrets Filibuster Reform as Senate Confirms More Trump Cabinet Picks
The Senate confirmed Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State with 56 votes; Jeff Sessions as Attorney General with 52 votes; and Betsy DeVos, who barely reached a majority of 51 votes without Vice President Mike Pence’s deciding vote to confirm her as Secretary of Education.

“As we look back, it may well have been better to not have changed the rules.”

Some Democrats remain unapologetic about the decision, however. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told IJR he maintains that filibuster reform was essential:

“At the time I thought, ‘I might serve here with a Republican president and I might serve here when there’s a Republican majority.’  We were in a situation where positions that were really important were going vacant for years at a time.”

9th Circuit Refuses to Reinstate Immigration Pause; ‘We Beat You,’ Gov. Tells Trump
Moments after the ruling, Trump tweeted, “SEE YOU IN COURT,” adding that “THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”

In response, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat who leads one of the states that challenged the ban, said: “Mr. President, we just saw you in court, and we beat you.”

The court battle is far from over. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seems likely. That could put the decision in the hands of a divided court that has a vacancy.

Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch, is unlikely to be confirmed in time to take part in any consideration of the ban, which was set to expire in 90 days unless it is changed.

Schumer: ‘We Think We Have Done a Real Service to America’ by Vilifying Trump’s Nominees
Senate Democrats flew a restaurant worker all the way from Los Angeles to Washington on Thursday, to help them portray President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary not only as “unqualified,” but also as someone who steals money from workers; looks the other way when workers are sexually harassed; forces people to work for free; punishes them for calling in sick; and fights against raising the minimum wage.

“Puzder called us the worst of the worst and the bottom of the pool. I work myself to the bone just to survive. Why would we want someone who think so little of workers in charge of policies that could impact all of us?” the allegedly victimized woman asked.

On Thursday, Schumer told the same news conference, “It’s disgraceful to put ‘secretary of labor’ and ‘Puzder’ in the same sentence, given his views.”

Schumer said Democrats hope they can force the withdrawal of Puzder’s nomination, but even if they can’t, it’s all about laying the groundwork to stymie the Trump administration:

While You Were Sleeping, Tom Price Was Confirmed As Health And Human Services Secretary
When Jeff Sessions was confirmed to be the 84th Attorney General of the United States Wednesday night, a vote was held to move Rep. Tom Price’s (R-GA) Health and Human Services nomination forward for a final vote.  Around 2:15 A.M this morning Price was confirmed in a 52-47 vote.

Hillary Clinton Gloats Over 9th Circuit Ruling Against Trump: “3-0″

Kellyanne Conway Tweets Back

Liberal Ninth Circuit Court Is Overturned in Recent Years 80% of Time

The Ninth Circuit Court ruled against President Trump and continued to block his travel ban on Thursday.  The Ninth Circuit is the most liberal court in the country — and is the most reversed court in the country.

2010, perhaps seeking to reclaim its position at the top of the heap, the Ninth Circuit was reversed a startling 19 times (79 percent), three times as many reversals as most circuits had cases before the Supreme Court. The same pattern continued in the 2011 (71 percent) and 2012 terms (86 percent), when the Ninth Circuit was reversed more than twice as many times as most circuits had cases before the Court.