Steven Menashi, A Trump nominee for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals

Steven Menashi, one of Donald Trump’s far-right lawyers, has become one of the year’s most controversial judicial nominees for good reason. The New York conservative, nominated for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, has a tough-to-defend record of radicalism that includes an argument about democratic countries working better when everyone is of the same ethnicity. Demand Justice’s Brian Fallon described Menashi as “a perfect storm of awful.”

His confirmation hearing did not go well. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) chided Menashi for not being more forthcoming, as did Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.).

This morning, however, Graham, Kennedy, and every other Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Menashi’s nomination to the floor, where he’ll almost certainly be confirmed.

That’s not too surprising – GOP senators nearly always serve as a rubber stamp for Trump’s far-right picks for the federal judiciary – but the vote came on the heels of this New York Times report, published yesterday, which common sense suggests should’ve at least given the […]