Gregg Nunziata in Bloomberg Law
Executive Director Gregg Nunziata was quoted in Bloomberg Law discussing President Trump’s recent public attacks on Leonard Leo, the former chairman of the Federalist Society and a central figure in the conservative legal movement.
Nunziata argues that the attacks reflect not only Trump’s ongoing hostility toward the judiciary but also a broader departure from the principles undergirding the movement’s foundational principles.
As quoted in the piece:
‘Many judges who are eligible to retire or take senior status have been watching to see what they can expect from the White House and these are ominous signs for them,’ he said, adding that a lot of federal judges, including those who are very conservative, have been put off by the administration’s rhetoric about the judiciary in recent weeks.
Trump’s commitment to nominating traditional conservative judges is what helped him solidify the Republican party’s support and win the White House in 2016.
Trump now has far fewer seats to fill during his second term than he did when he first entered the White House in 2017, after then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked the Obama administration from filling dozens of judgeships, especially on the influential courts of appeals, as well as the Supreme Court.
If Republicans want to continue winning elections post Trump, Nunziata said it needs the conservative legal movement.
‘This is not just about a personal attack on one man,’ he said about Trump’s post about Leo. ‘His social media statement was an open break with the conservative legal movement that helped bring him to power in the first place.’