WASHINGTON — Neomi Rao seemed like the ideal replacement for Brett M. Kavanaugh on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when President Trump nominated her to take his place after he ascended to the Supreme Court. An Indian-American and a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, Ms. Rao, 45, had the backing of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group that has been the main recruiting ground for the president’s highly successful effort to put his stamp on the judiciary. And as the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Ms. Rao is seen as an ally of the deregulatory efforts that are a large part of the conservative legal agenda. But Ms. Rao, who is on leave as the director and founder of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, now faces questions from within her own party and specifically, from Senator Josh Hawley, a newly elected Republican of Missouri and member of the Judiciary Committee.

Source: New York Times February 26, 2019 23:36 UTC