NPR

Three Trump Judicial Nominees Withdraw, Raising Some Questions About Vetting

The Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Senate have been confirming judicial nominations at a record pace but the breakneck speed and nontraditional vetting has come at a cost recently.
Then-Federal Election Commissioner Matthew Petersen testifies during a hearing before the Elections Subcommittee of House Committee on House Administration on November 3, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

This week Trump judicial nominee Matthew Petersen withdrew his name, amid controversy. It was the third such withdrawal in 10 days. Even so, President Trump's record on filling judicial vacancies has far outdistanced his predecessors.

Trump, aided by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has won confirmation of 12 appeals court nominees. That's more than any president in his first year, and indeed, more than Presidents Obama and George W. Bush combined.

Part of that success is due to the huge number of judicial vacancies that existed when Trump took office — 122. That staggering number is due to the fact that Republicans, who controlled the Senate in the last

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