WASHINGTON – Facing a potentially devastating Democratic split in the Senate, the White House is stepping up its fight to approve a deal. controversial judge candidate He will be the first Muslim American to serve as a US federal appeals court judge.
The White House is announcing a wave of new law enforcement approvals for Adeel Mangi to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, building on seven similar organizations that have supported Mangi in an attempt to counter their actions. describe The Republican smear campaign was based on his religion.
“Some Senate Republicans and their extreme allies are mercilessly smearing Adeel Mangi with baseless accusations that he is anti-police,” White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told NBC News. “That couldn’t be further from the truth, and the dozens of law enforcement agencies that have confirmed it agree.”
A third Democrat opposed Mangin’s nomination Wednesday: Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who joined Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. ., in opposing him. The move puts Mangin’s candidacy in greater jeopardy in the chamber, where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority.
Behind the scenes, Zients and other top White House officials pushed lawmakers to confirm Mangin “without further delay,” a White House official said. In addition to Zients, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Shuwanza Goff, Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs Ali Nouri, White House Counsel Ed Siskel and White House Senior Counsel for Candidates Phil Brest have also been in regular contact with the senators. .
Mangin’s difficult candidacy poses a political challenge for President Joe Biden as he begins his re-election campaign. The White House Relations with Muslim Americans deteriorated Against the backdrop of strong public opposition to the US’s support for Israel, which is bombing Gaza. Biden is counting on strong support from the Democratic-leaning cohort this fall, which represents a fraction of the U.S. electorate but has significant presence in some states, particularly battleground Michigan.
In new statements shared by the White House, three former New Jersey attorneys general and two former U.S. attorneys who served in the state expressed their support for Mangi, in addition to the International Law Enforcement Association and the New Jersey Italian American Police Society. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives also supported Mangi.
“Mr. Mangi has demonstrated qualities of leadership, empathy, excellence and determination to support and defend the United States Constitution, while ensuring equal protection and justice for all Americans,” the group wrote in a letter to congressional leaders last week.
Rosen, who is up for re-election in the competitive state of Nevada, announced his opposition to Mangi on Tuesday. “Given the concerns I have heard from law enforcement agencies in Nevada, I do not plan to vote to confirm this nominee,” he said in a statement from his office.
Mangi was confirmed by the Judiciary Committee in a party-line vote in January. It needs the support of 50 senators for its approval. No Republicans have said they would support him, although some have not said how they would vote if he were to win the Senate seat.
There are Republicans He attacked Mangi Rutgers Law School’s affiliation with the Center on Security, Race, and Rights chastised the decision to host an event in 2006 featuring a speaker named Sami Al-Arian. admitted his guilt Conspiracy to aid the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, according to the Justice Department. Mangi said in written testimony to the Senate that the Rutgers Center had “no involvement” in speaker events.
The Third Circuit vacancy creates another dilemma for Biden: Democrats have just nine months of guaranteed control of the White House and Senate to fill the powerful seat without needing Republican help. If Mangi can’t be confirmed, withdrawing his nomination sooner rather than later will make it easier for Biden to find another nominee and steer it through the Senate. But if he is perceived as abandoning Mangi without a fight, it may backfire on some voters.
In recent weeks, senior White House officials have he snapped Republicans for “brutal and Islamophobic attacks” as part of a larger “blackmail effort” to discredit Mangin.
Manchin said Friday he “didn’t vote” for Mangi because he is not a “reasonable” candidate for life judge. He called it “from my wheelhouse.” On the same day, Cortez Masto said in an interview that he had not heard from Democratic leaders about Mangi since they opposed him and that he remained committed to opposing him.
That means he’ll need Republicans to save his candidacy unless at least one of his Democratic rivals veers off course.
Centrist Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has sometimes broken with her party on the issue of judges, said she did not appreciate Mangin’s candidacy.
“I still haven’t looked at him because he hasn’t been brought up,” he said, adding that he will evaluate Mangi “the same way I’ve looked at every judicial candidate that has come before me since 2010, which is: Are they qualified?”