WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nomination of Adeel Mangi to be a powerful U.S. circuit court judge is in peril after two Senate Democrats announced they will oppose his nomination.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have said they will oppose Mangi’s nomination to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. With Democrats holding only a 51-to-49 majority, Mangi’s lack of Republican support means he doesn’t have the simple majority needed to be confirmed. Mangi would be the first Muslim American to serve as a judge on an appeals court, which has the last word on most federal legal disputes.
“Mr. Mangi’s affiliation with the Alliance of Families for Justice is deeply concerning,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “This organization has sponsored a fellowship in the name of Kathy Boudin, a member of the domestic terrorist organization Weather Underground, and advocated for the release of individuals convicted of killing police officers. I cannot support this nominee.”
Republicans have criticized Mangi for his involvement in the Rutgers Law School Center for Security, Race, and Rights, condemning its decision to host an event on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that featured as a speaker Sami Al-Arian, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Republicans on the Judiciary Committee were criticized for their line of questioning during Mangi’s confirmation hearing about Hamas militants’ terrorist attack in Israel, with the White House saying the line of questioning was driven by Islamophobia.
Manchin said he opposes Mangi because, going forward, he will support only judicial nominees who have at least one GOP vote, and currently there are zero who have said they will vote for him.
“I don’t think he has any bipartisan support, and I’ve just come to the conclusion I’m not going to continue to go down this path. I believe so strongly in bipartisanship, I…
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