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Cook: Why Travis McDonough’s path to federal judgeship is suddenly in jeopardy

cook-mcdonough-and-the-new-republicans
cook-mcdonough-and-the-new-republicans

By David Cook 3 min read

photo Travis McDonough
photo David Cook

When Republicans won control of the Senate on Tuesday night, life suddenly became much more complicated for our city’s Travis McDonough.

Earlier this year, sources confirmed McDonough — former Miller & Martin attorney and current chief of staff for Mayor Andy Berke — as President Obama’s nominee to replace retiring U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier.

To get from City Hall to a lifelong federal judgeship, McDonough must pass through a full Senate vote, a route that didn’t seem so uncertain when Democrats were a majority.

Now a GOP Senate could monkey-wrench it all.

“A Republican Senate would undoubtedly stop confirmation on virtually all Obama-nominated judges,” Norm Ornstein predicted several months ago in The Atlantic.