Trump Nominates Michigan Native to Replace Kavanaugh
President Trump is nominating regulations-cutter Neomi Rao, an Indian American from Metro Detroit, to fill Brett Kavanaugh’s vacancy on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s the nation’s second-most powerful court and often judges regulatory disputes.
President Trump says he is nominating his administration’s specialist in cutting government regulations to fill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s former seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Michigan native Neomi Rao has a lengthy legal background and a history of opposing what she calls the “administrative state.”
Rao is the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, analyzing the costs and benefits of various government requirements.
That means Rao has basically been in charge of fulfilling Trump’s campaign vow to drastically reduce government regulations.
She’s also been a staunch advocate for bringing independent federal agencies under the control of the White House.
Rao clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, worked for President George W. Bush and taught law at George Mason University.
An Indian American from Metro Detroit, Rao was at a White House event celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights, when Trump said he was announcing her nomination a day before he planned to.
“We’re never gonna do better than this right? I thought it was an appropriate place. So we’re 24 hours early. But she’s gonna do fantastic. Great person,” the President said.
Experts consider the D.C. Court the second-most important in the country, in part because it often hears national regulatory disputes.
The currently liberal-leaning court is also known as a training ground for potential future U.S. Supreme Court justices.
