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President Trump has outpaced his immediate predecessors when it comes to having his choices for federal judgeships confirmed.

The Senate this week approved a fifth Trump nominee, placing Trump on a faster pace for approvals than either President Barack Obama or President George W. Bush.

Most recently, Alabama lawyer Kevin Christopher Newsom was confirmed to a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on a 66-31 vote, with 16 Democrats joining the GOP on the affirmative side, the Washington Times reported.

Newsom was the third Trump pick for circuit judge to be approved so far. Combined with one district judge and the Supreme Court appointment of Neil Gorsuch, the Trump administration and the Republican-led Senate are well ahead of the normal pace for judicial approvals.

The Trump administration has moved faster on filling judicial vacancies compared to the past administrations, thanks to its commitment to working with and extensively consulting all senators, regardless of political affiliation, to select high-caliber nominees, Kelly Love, a White House spokesperson, told the newspaper.

Obama had no judges confirmed during his first six months at the White House and it took him until November 2009 to get three circuit nominees approved by the Senate. Bush didnt have three picks -- one circuit judge and two district judges -- confirmed until August of his first term.

Trump began his bid to reshape the lower federal courts in early May, when the White House announced 10 judicial nominees that officials described at the time as Trumps third wave of federal judicial appointments.

Two of the nominees originally were on the list of 21 candidates that the Trump transition team considered for the Supreme Court vacancy left by Antonin Scalias death. That seat was ultimately filled by Gorsuch.

The two nomiees were Justice Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court, nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati; and Justice David Stras of the Minnesota Supreme Court, nominated to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

The other nominees, in addition to Newsom, were Amy Coney Barrett, a Notre Dame law professor nominated to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago; John Bush, a Louisville lawyer nominated to the 6th Circuit; Judge David C. Nye, nominated to the U.S. District Court for Idaho; Scott L. Palk, a former federal prosecutor nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma; Damien Schiff, nominated to federal claims court; Dabney L. Friedrich, nominated to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and Judge Terry Moorer, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

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5th Trump judicial nominee confirmed, outpacing Obama, Bush - Fox News

This week I got a plea from Jess OConnell, chief executive officer of the Democratic National Committee, asking me to sign my name wishing Barack Obama a happy birthday.

Obama says his birthday is tomorrow, Aug. 4.

Maybe it is. Maybe it isnt. I just dont know. To me, the jury is still out.

Obama says he was born in Hawaii in 1961. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasnt. I just dont know. To me, the jury is still out.

Why am I so stubborn on this point?

Two reasons:

About the second point, OConnells email this week making the case for wishing Obama a happy birthday started out like this: The first bill that President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. I like to think that first act set the tone for his administration: devoting every single day in office to making life better for the American people.

I wont argue with the merits or demerits of the Fair Pay Act, only the fact that nowhere in the U.S. Constitution will you find even a hint that Washington has any authority to determine how much its citizens, outside of government, should be paid. And, as to the suggestion Obama devoted every single day in office to making life better for the American people, Ill leave that to you to decide.

Rescuing our economy from the brink of disaster, reforming Wall Street, signing the Affordable Care Act, repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell, taking bold action on climate change and signing the Paris Climate Agreement, putting the protections of DACA and DAPA into place there are more accomplishments than you can list, argued the DNC chief in trying to persuade me to say, Happy Birthday to Obama. Its a legacy that Im incredibly grateful for and proud to be fighting for every day.

Suffice it to say, I dont believe a word of this nonsense.

I dont believe a word that has ever come out of the mouth of Barack Obama.

I dont believe a word he has ever written or was ghostwritten on his behalf.

I dont believe any of the self-aggrandizement. I dont believe a word of the hype.

Even if I believed his birthday is tomorrow, I wouldnt send him a card, I wouldnt wish him well, and I wouldnt acknowledge any of his so-called accomplishments. For me, it will take a miracle to undo eight years of damage he inflicted on a great country.

Birthday shmirth-day.

I dont wish him ill. I just dont have any respect for him or his ideas. What he has decided to do in his post-presidency is even more contemptible than what he did with the reigns of illegitimate power serving, as he does, as a shadow president, intentionally undermining, at every turn, his duly elected successor.

I dont think you can point to another U.S. president who ever did that.

Its like he doesnt know what else to do with himself except for being a national community organizer.

Pathetic.

Am I bitter?

You bet.

I like the United States of America. I like the idea of it. I like the concept a nation under the rule of law, not the rule of men. I never liked the notion of a fundamental transformation of our country. Only someone who hates America could even hatch such a nightmarish thought. And his only notable accomplishment in life was coming very close to carrying it out.

Happy birthday?

Not from me.

Not this year, not next year nor the year after that.

No regrets from here on challenging everything Obama ever uttered, enacted or planned.

Get Joseph Farahs new book, The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians, and the End of the Age, and learn about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith and your future in Gods Kingdom

Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [emailprotected].

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Obama! You say it's your birthday - WND.com

A federal court told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Monday that it has to enforce an Obama administration methane pollution rule.

The order from Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came after the judges gave the agency a two-week reprieve from its ruling earlier in July that the EPA broke the law when it tried to delay enforcement earlier.

Despite the reprieve, the Trump administration has not asked for the entire 11-judge court to rehear its case, the standard next step for appealing a ruling for a three-judge panel.

But industry groups and conservative states opposed to the regulation did ask for the full-court repeal, so the judges will consider their request in the coming weeks.

The rule sets standards for the oil and natural gas drilling industry that aim to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and the main component of natural gas.

It was a major part of former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaObama team pushing Deval Patrick presidential run North Korea targeted emails of Clinton advisers: report Putin tests Trump with counterpunch on sanctions MOREs second-term climate change agenda.

The D.C. Circuit Court ruled in early July that the Trump administration overstepped its authority under the Clean Air Act when it tried to unilaterally delay the rule while it works to repeal it.

The EPA is also working through the regulatory process to delay the regulation for an additional two years. It is gathering public comment untilAug. 9and could make the delay final after that.

See more here:
Court tells EPA to enforce Obama methane pollution rule

President Obama led the fight to protect everyone no matter who they are, where theyre from, what they look like, or whom they love. The Administrations work included pushing through sweeping rights and protections for LGBTQ Americans milestones we mark this Pride month as we learn from LGBTQ leaders organizing in their communities.

In December 2010, President Obama signed the Dont Ask, Dont Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law, allowing gay men and women to serve openly and with integrity in the U.S. military.

Michael Rudulph and his partner Neil Rafferty talk about their service as gay Marines under the Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy.

In February 2011, the Obama Administration announced it would cease legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Acts provision defining marriage as only between a man and woman, leading to the Supreme Courts landmark decisions holding the Act unconstitutional.

Throughout his presidency, President Obama advocated in favor of a Constitutional guarantee of marriage equality for same-sex couplesa position the Supreme Court vindicated in its historic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.

Edie Windsor talks to her lawyer Roberta Kaplan about how the 2009 death of Edies long-time partner, Thea Spyer, led to their landmark Supreme Court case which secured marriage equality nationwide.

Theres so much we still have to do to achieve full equality, and we at the Obama Foundation are committed to doing everything we can to empower and support the LGBTQ community. As part of our efforts, recently we talked to LGBTQ leaders in Chicago about how theyre organizing in their communities, and what citizenship means to them.

Lifelong Chicagoan, Mary Morten, shares why shes inspired by young people today and why its important for all of us no matter where we live or what our lives look like to start with our own communities.

Theresa and Mercedes, who have been together for more than twenty years, share why being involved with the LGBTQ community is important to them.

Patrick and Jim have been together for 54 years and organize around LGBTQ issues to fight for equality, justice, and fairness for all people.

More from community organizers in Chicago

We know from our own history that change happens because people push to make it happen. Weve got to do the hard work of educating others, showing empathy to others, changing hearts and minds. And when we do that, then change occurs. It doesnt come always as quickly as we like, but progress comes.

President Obama, June 13, 2013, Reception for LGBTQ Pride Month

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Celebrating Pride Month - Obama Foundation

After a presidential campaign endsparticularly if it ends badlythe campaigns once-innovative tools to target voters tend to collect dust along with unused boxes of buttons and bumper stickers. Unlike the campaign tchotchke, however, those data analytics and targeting tools could actually be useful to future national and state campaigns.

Now, a group of former Obama staffers is trying to break that cycle. The group, Higher Ground Labs , is taking a note from Sand Hill Road and applying venture-capital tactics to progressive politics. On Wednesday, Higher Ground is disclosing investments totaling nearly $1.5 million in 10 startups and enrolling them in a five-month accelerator program, during which theyll work with mentors from the political-tech space to build their businesses.

We havent built a culture around investors who invest in political tech in a real way. So people have had a hard time getting off the ground, says Betsy Hoover, a co-founder of Higher Ground, who worked for both Obama presidential campaigns in online and field organizing. I think theres a real moment to think about this differently.

Higher Ground, whose founders also include former Obama-administration staffers Shomik Dutta and Andrew McLaughlin, debuted in May. Since then, some 150 groups have applied to participate in the accelerator program and a related fellowship program. Higher Ground has raised $2.5 million from investors spanning politics and the tech industry. The companies receiving funding include Qriously , which uses programmatic online ads instead of phone calls to gauge public opinion, Victory Guide , a so-called digital campaign manager that gives local candidates a day-by-day agenda of campaign goals, and Tuesday Strategies , which helps volunteers send personalized text and social media messages to friends the campaign wants to reach.

Tuesday Strategies grew out of Hillary Clintons 2016 field organizing efforts in Michigan. Clinton lost Michigan, but Tuesday Strategies CEO Michael Luciani said the companys tactics helped the campaign beat its outreach targets in the state. Theres a much higher response rate, because its coming from a friend not a stranger, Luciani says of the personalized text messages.

Luciani and co-founders Shola Farber and Jordan Birnholtz say Higher Grounds investment will help Tuesday Strategies build and sustain its product as it gains campaign clients. Already, its working with state house, city council, and gubernatorial candidates in Virginia, New York and Michigan.

In many ways, whats happening on the left today mirrors what happened on the right in 2012 . Daniel Kreiss, a professor at the University of North Carolina and author of the book Prototype Politics , says Republicans realized after Obamas victory over Mitt Romney that they were at a technological disadvantage. Romney lost an election that people on the right believed he should have won, says Kreiss, who is tabulating how many new organizations have grown out of the 2016 election.

Perhaps the most powerful Republican startup to come from the post-2012 era is Cambridge Analytica , which ran the data operation for President Trumps campaign. Cambridge was unusual because it was backed by billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, giving it the resources to sustain itself between presidential campaigns. Most political tech must rely on presidential campaigns and, to a lesser extent, mid-term elections to stay financially viable.

One of the things the right has seemingly done well is understand they could bankroll these larger ventures to insulate them during those off years, Kreiss says.

With Higher Ground, Hoover and her co-founders hope to do the same on the left. Theyre not the only ones. The Arena launched a PAC to fund promising progressive startups and individuals. Hillary Clintons own PAC, Onward Together , has awarded grants to groups like Swing Left, Emerge America, and Run for Something, which help fund state races and encourage new candidates to seek office.

To Hoover, thats a promising sign. And yet it raises the specter of dividing limited resources among many organizations that must prove their worth and may compete with one another for both donors and voters attention.

Hoover dismisses those concerns. They assume that theres a finite pie of money going around, and I just dont think thats the case, she says. Shes hoping the surge in interest on the left helps create tools and products that extend beyond a single election cycle.

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Obama Alums Pour $1.5 Million Into Progressive Tech Startups - WIRED