According to a deal reached with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday night, President Joe Biden intends to nominate an anti-abortion attorney to a federal judgeship in Kentucky.
As Kentucky’s solicitor general, S. Chad Meredith campaigned against federal COVID-19 public health regulations and to restrict access to abortion in the state. He was supported by the Federalist Society.
When the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade late last week, striking down federal abortion rights, the president’s credibility with pro-choice organizations may have suffered.
According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Biden gave McConnell the victory in exchange for the Kentucky Republican ‘agre[ing] not to hold up future federal nominees by the Biden White House.
According to the publication, the lone Democrat in Kentucky’s congressional delegation, he thinks it’s a “bigger deal on judicial nominees.”
In a 2021 case, Meredith was successful in arguing that doctors doing the medical procedure must first show their patients ultrasounds and describe the fetus being shown.
This was one of Meredith’s most recent anti-abortion successes.
On behalf of Matt Bevin, the state’s Republican governor at the time, he also opposed an abortion clinic in Kentucky.
Although Kentucky does not have any available federal judicial positions, there are 64 district court openings and seven US Court of Appeals vacancies.
For both, Biden has 20 names on the table, and McConnell hinted that if Republicans retake the majority in November, the waiting list would grow.
“If I become the majority leader, we’ll be very selective in who we appoint.”
At a Rotary Club meeting in Florence County, Kentucky earlier this week, he stated, “There are 1,200 executive branch appointments that come to us.”
We’ll be more pickier about who gets to lead the numerous boards, commissions, and organizations that are crucial to how each of you function in our society, he vowed.
But because Meredith doesn’t currently have a position, pro-choice advocates and Biden’s Democratic allies might still scuttle it.
The lone Democrat in the House representing Kentucky, Rep. John Yarmuth, told the Courier-Journal that he would’strongly’ oppose Meredith’s appointment.
It is obvious that this is a part of a bigger agreement on judicial nominations between the president and Mitch McConnell, he informed the source, given that there isn’t an available judicial position on the Eastern District Court at the moment.
Yarmuth’s office has been contacted by DailyMail.com for confirmation.
Additionally, inquiries for more information were directed to Meredith, the White House, and McConnell’s office.
All five Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday have links to Meredith’s Federalist Society.
The group has a reputation for fostering the development of conservative lawyers, many of whom have gone on to hold various legal positions within state and federal administrations.
All three of former president Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, received advice from Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society’s leader at the time.
All three concurred with Justice Samuel Alito’s Friday opinion that abortion rights were not guaranteed by the US Constitution, along with Justice Clarence Thomas.
At a news conference on Thursday in Madrid, President Joe Biden referred to the choice as “outrageous.”
Upon his return on Friday, he stated that he would make additional statements regarding federal action following his meeting with governors.
The president declared, “I think Roe v. Wade ought to be codified in the law.”