Civil rights advocates are becoming increasingly alarmed at the Senate’s willingness to rubber-stamp President Trump’s federal court nominees, including some who have come under scrutiny because of their views on civil rights laws and disdain for judicial precedent.
This week, the Senate voted 55-43 to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, a law professor at Notre Dame, to the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals. Barrett, a devout Catholic, had been criticized for her past statements and writings showing a strong, personal bias against reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights, which she attributed to her faith — even though not all practicing Catholics hold or endorse those same views.
Republicans quickly leapt to social media and conservative media outlets to brand Democrats as anti-Catholic and accuse, in particular, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, of prejudice. But Feinstein said she was simply questioning Barrett about her writings to see what kind of a judge she would be, as Barrett has zero judicial experience on her resume.
Feinstein also noted that Barrett had suggested that a judge’s decisions might be swayed by their personal religious beliefs or biases, and wanted to ensure that she could remain impartial and adhere to existing precedent, according to the South Bend Tribune.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which has been closely monitoring Trump’s judicial nominees, issued a statement slamming Barrett.
“Our federal courts should be comprised of fair and independent judges who will safeguard the rights of all people in America, but Professor Barrett’s record shows that she will not be such a judge,” Vanita Gupta, the CEO of the Leadership Conference, said in a statement.
Gupta, who served as head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division under the Obama administration, also decried the confirmation of Joan Larsen, a justice on the Michigan Supreme Court, to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Larsen was one of 21 individuals recommended by the right-wing Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation for consideration for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Antonin Scalia. President Trump eventually picked Neil Gorsuch for that post. Nonetheless, Larsen’s inclusion on the list raised alarm among progressives, who believe she is an ideological warrior with an axe to grind.
Larsen’s nomination was opposed by 27 LGBTQ groups because of a record that is openly hostile to LGBTQ rights. She once rejected an appeal by a lesbian mother trying to get parental visitation rights from an ex-spouse that she had lived with before the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality. LGBTQ advocates also expressed concern over an article Larsen wrote in which she objected to the decision in Lawrence v. Texas that struck down sodomy laws and de-criminalized consensual same-sex relations.
Gupta, of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, called Larsen’s judicial record “antagonistic to civil and human rights.”
“President Trump is seeking to pack the federal courts with judicial extremists because his divisive agenda has been repeatedly challenged and stopped by the judiciary,” Gupta said in a statement. “Senate Republicans need to exercise their own independent judgment on the troubling records of these lifetime appointments and stop rubber-stamping President Trump’s clear agenda to roll back our civil rights.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee also held confirmation hearings this week for Trump nominees Leonard Steven Grasz of Nebraska to serve on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Mark Norris of Tennessee to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Both have raised serious red flags among civil rights advocates for their temperament and their hostility to civil rights law precedent.
For example, the American Bar Association — which conducts objective, nonpartisan assessments of judicial nominees — announced this week that it had rated Grasz unanimously “Not Qualified” to serve as a federal judge, citing his inability to rule on cases without bias and his seeming wish to push a conservative social agenda.
“In sum, the evaluators and the committee found that temperament issues, particularly bias and lack of open-mindedness, were problematic,” the ABA concluded in its assessment. This marks only the third unanimously “Not Qualified” rating the ABA has given since 1989. The other two nominees rated this low were never confirmed to the bench.
On LGBTQ issues, Grasz, who is a board member of the anti-LGBTQ Nebraska Family Alliance, has said that marriage equality is a “threat” to society, has expressed support for conversion therapy, and has opposed legal protections for LGBTQ people.
Norris, the majority leader in the Tennessee State Senate, has similarly hostile views when it comes to civil rights issues. He opposed marriage equality and voted for Tennessee’s infamous law allowing mental health providers to refuse service to LGBTQ clients. He has advocated for strict voter ID laws, opposed the removal of Confederate monuments, and even supported bills to make it more difficult to workers to pursue compensation claims in Tennessee, according to the Alliance for Justice.
The Judiciary Committee has not yet voted on Grasz or Norris’ nominations, but is expected to do so later this month.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, took to the floor to speak out against Republican efforts to jam through as many unpalatable judicial nominees as possible, even if they hold out-of-the-mainstream views or cannot demonstrate that they would be impartial if confirmed to lifetime appointments on the bench.
“President Trump and Republicans are taking our country in a direction that is deeply harmful — by stacking the courts with extreme, conservative judges,” Murray said in her floor remarks. “Two were on President Trump’s ‘short list’ for Supreme Court justices — meaning they would ‘automatically’ vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Unfortunately, their views on LGBTQ rights, sexual assault, criminal justice, and corporate interests are just as deeply troubling.”
The year's nearly out. Sometimes that calls for taking sweet stock of the past months' wonderful events. Coming to the end of 2025, on the other hand, is more like getting to that denouement in the action movie where the survivors take a breath and pat each other on the back for having made it out alive. At this stage, we are Newt getting tucked-in to her Sulaco hibernation tube.
With some effort and a pinch of luck, may we all fare better in 2026 than poor Newt's end at the start of Alien 3.
Why such a shitty year? So much of it, obviously, can be laid at the feet of Lame Duck Donald. Not that he hasn't had loads of assistance in his evil efforts to erase our transgender family and friends, colleagues, and leaders during 2025. The purge, as promised, began right out of the gate on Inauguration Day.
In a surprise appearance on Sunday, Nicki Minaj addressed Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, an annual conference aimed at younger MAGA activists, where she reaffirmed her recent anti-transgender views.
The rapper built her career with the help of a deeply devoted fanbase known as “Barbz,” many of whom are gay men. At the event, the “Super Bass” singer repeated the phrase “Boys, be boys” while seated on stage beside conservative lightning-rod Erika Kirk.
She continued her attacks on California Governor Gavin Newsom at the December 21 event, while offering effusive praise for the president and vice president.
Speaking at a House GOP retreat, President Donald Trump warned that Democrats would seek to impeach him if they regain control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.
"f we don't win the midterms, it's just going to be -- I mean, they'll find a reason to impeach me," Trump said. "I'll get impeached."
Trump was first impeached in 2019, after Democrats regained control of the House during his first term, over allegations that he withheld congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine to pressure its government into announcing investigations into his political rival, former President Joe Biden.
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