Many have long believed that Democrats use race as a political weapon, especially against those of a protected class. This has long been part of judicial nominations politics in particular. Form the “high tech lynching” of Clarence Thomas during the George H.W. Bush administration to the fact that Senator Dick Durbin led opposition to Miguel Estrada during the George W. Bush administration for the racist reason that he did not want a Republican to nominate the first Hispanic to be on the Supreme Court. Now comes another test for the Democrats.
Today President Donald Trump nominated the first openly gay person to a federal circuit court, Patrick Bumatay. Bumatay is also a minority and most importantly an outstanding nominee for the Ninth Circuit. His background is very impressive.
Patrick Bumatay is an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, where he is a member of the Appellate and Narcotics Sections. He previously served as Counselor to the Attorney General on various criminal issues, including the national opioid strategy and transnational organized crime. Mr. Bumatay has also served in other positions in the Department of Justice, including the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the Office of the Associate Attorney General, where he was responsible for overseeing various aspects of the Department’s civil enforcement programs, and the Office of Legal Policy. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Bumatay served as a law clerk to Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He also clerked for Judge Sandra L. Townes of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Bumatay earned his B.A., cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Tom Homann LGBT Law Association, and the Federal Bar Association.
Will his minority and LGBT status cause Democrats to play games? As RNLA Vice President for Election Education Ron Hicks stated:
“Just like they did with Miguel Estrada and many others, liberals and Democrats will resort to identity politics and increase their attacks on Patrick Bumatay for not fitting into their mold of what characteristics he is allowed to have. He is an openly gay conservative who has had a distinguished career and is highly qualified to serve on the Ninth Circuit. Everyone who supports the rule of law should support him."
His nomination should be a slam dunk. California Republican National Committeewoman and RNLA Vice President for Communications Harmeet Dhillon agreed and added praise for the other Ninth Circuit nominee, Lawrence VanDyke, as well:
“In Patrick Bumatay and Lawrence VanDyke, President Trump has once again made two excellent circuit court nominations. Both should help to return respect for the rule of law to the Ninth Circuit, which has often been appropriately criticized for ignoring the law and the Constitution in favor of legal realism and new liberal legal theories.”
Both nominees are extremely well-qualified and would be outstanding and needed additions to the Ninth Circuit. Hopefully, Democratic Senators will not play games or make excuses that are likely really veiled bigotry so that both Patrick Bumatay and Lawrence VanDyke will be confirmed quickly.