For the past several weeks, Senator Jeff Flake has been threatening to block President Trump’s circuit court nominees unless the Senate votes on legislation that would restrict the President’s ability to impose tariffs. Senator Flake’s threats have applied to both the circuit court nominees who are waiting to be advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee (on which Senator Flake sits), as well as those currently waiting for confirmation votes from the full Senate.
Today Senator Flake got his vote, as the Senate passed a nonbinding resolution seeking to constrain the President’s ability to impose tariffs for reasons related to national security. Yesterday Flake told reporters that the vote is “what I’ve been wanting.”
As my NRO colleague, Ed Whelan, has reported, Senator Flake is dropping his threat to hold up the President’s circuit court nominees. Tomorrow the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a markup and circuit court nominees Britt Grant (Eleventh) and David Porter (Third), will be reported to the Senate Floor assuming the presence of a quorum.
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