It is not unprecedented for a member of the legislative branch to be nominated to a federal court – including the Supreme Court of the United States. One name being mentioned among possible nominees to fill a potential vacancy is Senator John Cornyn (R-TX).

Senator Cornyn is currently a Deputy Whip in the U.S. Senate, where he also serves on five Senate legislative committees: Armed Services, Judiciary, Budget, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the Joint Economic Committee. He chairs the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship and the Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Sen. Cornyn served as Attorney General of Texas (1998-2002), a Texas Supreme Court Justice (1990-1997), and a State District Court Judge for the District of San Antonio (1984-1990)

As you can see, he has a wealth of experience as a judge, as well as experience as a legislator and the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Texas. As such, he has an excellent understanding of the roles of all three branches of government.

Now Cornyn will have to explain a comment that upset some liberals this spring. But it is easy to overcome, as the comments were reasonable and defensible. Also, Senators are loath to reject the nomination of one of their peers to a judgeship, as a matter of comity. After all, the rejection of that colleague will result in his continued tenure in the Senate. Franklin Roosevelt’s nomination of Senator Hugo Black, a Klansman, was approved easily in 1937. Given that precedent, the nomination of a mainstream, non-racist Republican cannot be seen as rising to the “extraordinary circumstance” threshold set by the recent agreement by the Gang of 14.

There is another reason for nominating Cornyn, this one political. It appears that Kay Bailey Hutchison is going to leave the Senate to make a primary challenge against Gov. Rick Perry. The fight will likely be bloody. A Cornyn appointment would be enough to force Hutchison to reconsider her plans to leave the Senate (as she promised when first elected to retire after two terms), lest Texas lose all seniority in the Senate within the space of one year. Perry can nominate Rep. Henry Bonilla to the open seat, rather than waiting for him to run for HutchisonÂ’s seat, giving him the advantage of incumbency in the 2006 primary and general election. The effect will be to forestall the sort of bloody intra-party fighting which destroyed the Democrat monopoly on power in the state.

Some may be shocked by my mention of the political considerations in making such a nomination. DonÂ’t be. Judicial nominations, especially to the Supreme Court, are inherently political. IÂ’m just laying out the political calculus.

Posted by: Greg at 01:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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