Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Tuesday joined Democrats in opposing the nomination of Michael Truncale, President Donald Trump’s pick for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Romney was the lone Republican senator who bucked his party in voting against Truncale, who was ultimately confirmed by a vote of 49-46. Democrats and civil rights groups view Truncale as an extreme ideologue who wants to limit reproductive, immigrant and voting rights. But Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president, said he had another reason he saw Truncale as unqualified to serve in a lifetime position as a federal judge. “He had said some things disparaging of President Obama and having been a Republican nominee in 2012 I couldn’t sign on to that for a district judge,” the Utah senator told reporters on Tuesday.

Source: Huffington Post May 14, 2019 20:37 UTC