By Jacqueline Thomsen
(Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday questioned a pair of U.S. Navy Reserve officers who were nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden to serve on two U.S. federal appeals courts.
Hammond, Indiana U.S. Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar and Rich Federico, a federal public defender in Kansas and a military judge for the Navy Reserve, both appeared before the committee. Biden, a Democrat, nominated them to the bench in July.
Kolar, tapped for the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said his military experience has helped prepare him to serve on the court.
“Both as a naval intelligence officer and as a judge, I try to make sure that I’m rigorously analyzing anything that comes before me and taking into account all relevant facts,” he said.
He is also a former federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Indiana.
Federico, a former military prosecutor and defense lawyer, is nominated to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said that his different roles within the Navy’s legal system “can only make me a better circuit judge.”
Federico faced some push-back from Republicans over a case in which he, as a court-appointed defense lawyer, asked for a sentence below the federal guidelines for a man convicted of distributing child sex abuse materials.
Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, said he would oppose the nominee over the case. Federico defended his actions, saying it was his responsibility to zealously represent the defendant and that sentences are ultimately decided by judges.
Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, was joined by leading Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in noting that both Kolar and Federico were supported by their Republican home state senators, even though their backing was not needed for the nominees to advance.
“These senators and the White House Counsel’s Office have shown once again this process can work when people of goodwill meet together and do their best,” Durbin said.
The committee on Wednesday also heard from two nominees to federal trial courts.
Judge Jeffrey Bryan of the Minnesota Court of Appeals would be the first Hispanic federal district court judge in Minnesota if confirmed. Judge Eumi Lee, a Korean American state court judge in California’s Alameda County, is nominated to serve as a district court judge in the state’s Northern District.
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(Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington)
