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| - The US Senate set aside worries about the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday to push ahead President Donald Trump's young nominee for a powerful court position that could strengthen the conservative hold on the US judiciary. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing for Justin Walker, 37, to take a seat on the federal appeals court in Washington, sometimes seen as second only in power to the US Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the driving force behind a Republican effort to place scores of conservatives in powerful judgeships across the country where they can hold their positions for life and have a deep impact on governance and society. And Trump, who seeks reelection in November, has made that effort a hallmark of his presidency. Walker in particular is backed by McConnell; they both hail from Kentucky, where Walker was made a district court judge last year with the backing of the powerful Senate chief. At the time, the influential American Bar association assessed him as "unqualified" because of his limited experience. But Walker has deep ties to the Republican establishment. He was a clerk for now-retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and also for current Justice Brett Kavanaugh, when Kavanaugh was a judge on the Washington appeals court. "Judge Justin Walker is a brilliant legal expert whose record earns praise all across the political spectrum," McConnell said Wednesday. But, in his court actions so far, Walker is best known for overruling the Louisville, Kentucky mayor's policy against holding drive-in church services to prevent the spread of coronavirus last month. "An American mayor criminalized the communal celebration of Easter," Walker wrote in his opinion. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that Walker still lacked experience for the powerful appeals court, having rendered only 12 judgments in his career. Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, blasted McConnell for forcing the confirmation hearing. "Mr Walker's nomination would be controversial in normal times to say the least," Schumer said. "There are millions of newly unemployed Americans. But in the Senate, the Republican majority is spending time giving jobs to rightwing judges," he said. But with a majority on the committee and in the Senate, the Republicans were almost certain to be able to have Walker's nomination approved. chp/pmh/bfm
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