On such a court, we should prize independence and
moderation and look warily at candidates with highly political
backgrounds. Unfortunately, Gregory Katsas has been intimately involved in a
number of the most partisan and legally dubious Executive orders of the
current administration. He was involved in the President's
controversial travel ban, his decisions to terminate DACA, to end
transgender service in the military, and to establish an election
integrity commission based on the lie that 3.5 million people voted
illegally in the last election. His tenure and views in the Trump administration raise important
questions about his independence and moderation, particularly on a
court that will likely hear cases related to the very same issues he
worked on in the White House. He appears to be another example of the
Republican majority pushing judges from a political extreme of their
party as a way of advancing their interests in lieu of a legislative
agenda, which has floundered.