Trump’s Asian American Circuit Pick Reprises First Term Trend

President Donald Trump is again turning to lawyers of Asian American or Pacific Islander descent to fill the appellate bench, something he did in his first term at a rate unrivaled by his Republican predecessors.

Trump announced he’d nominate Eric Tung, a Jones Day partner in Los Angeles, to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California. If confirmed, the ex-federal prosecutor and Office of Legal Policy counsel at the Justice Department would be Trump’s eighth appointee who self-identifies as Asian American or Pacific Islander.

Diversity didn’t seem to be a primary concern for the president in filling judicial vacancies during his first term. He appointed fewer members of minority groups to the federal bench than any of his immediate predecessors, and his appointment of mostly White men decreased the overall diversity on the courts.

But as Trump has sought out reliable conservatives for the appellate bench, he’s also increased Asian American representation. Of the 11 active circuit judges who self-identified as Asian American or Pacific Islander at the end of Trump’s first term, he appointed seven of the life-appointed jurists.

“There’s actually a large pool of ideologically conservative Asian Americans with the sufficient experience and credentials to make plausible appellate court picks,” said Tom Lee, a Fordham Law School professor and co-director of its Center on Asian Americans and the Law.

Big States

If Tung is confirmed, half of Trump’s appellate appointees of Asian American or Pacific Islander descent will preside in circuits that cover states with major Asian American populations—including California, New York, and Texas.

“President Trump has always sought only the best judicial candidates—and it turns out that frequently those individuals have Asian-American ancestry,” Robert Luther III, a George Mason law professor and former White House lawyer during Trump’s first term who handled judicial nominations, said in an email.

Trump’s most immediate Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, didn’t appoint any Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders to life-tenured positions on the appellate bench.

Obama elevated four judges who identified as Asian American or Pacific Islander to appeals courts. Republicans filibustered another Asian American appellate nominee from Obama, Goodwin Liu, who now serves on California’s state supreme court.

There are now 16 active Asian American or Pacific Islanders on the federal circuit courts following Joe Biden’s six appointments. Two other Biden nominees, Adeel Mangi for the Third Circuit and Ryan Park for the Fourth Circuit, weren’t confirmed.

Mangi, who is Pakistani American and would’ve been the first Muslim American federal appeals judge, generated unease among some Democrats amid conservative-led allegations that he’d affiliated himself with antisemitic and anti-police groups.

Park, the son of Korean immigrants and North Carolina’s former solicitor general, reportedly lacked the votes to get confirmed after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said the White House didn’t adequately consult the state’s Republican senators on the nomination.

Trump Appointees

Judge James Ho, a Taiwanese-born American Trump picked for the Fifth Circuit in 2017, is an expected top contender for a Supreme Court seat if Trump gets a vacancy to fill. Ho has made a name for himself as an outspoken member of the nation’s most conservative appeals court.

Judge Neomi Rao, an Indian American woman, serves on the D.C. Circuit. She previously worked in Trump’s first administration as head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is tasked with reviewing and signing off on regulations.

Judge Patrick Bumatay was the first Filipino American to serve on a federal appeals court following Trump’s nomination and the first openly gay judge to serve on the Ninth Circuit.

Judge Amul Thapar, who was the first Indian American federal judge ever confirmed before Trump elevated him to the Sixth Circuit. Second Circuit Judge Michael Park, whose parents immigrated to the US from South Korea, and the Ninth Circuit’s Kenneth Lee, who was born in South Korea, are among Trump’s other Asian American appellate appointees.

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