Considering how crazy and dysfunctional Congress is at the moment, I consider it a minor miracle that the Senate voted today 98-0 to confirm the first openly gay man to a position on any Federal Circuit Court. Judge Todd Hughes almost definitely would have received 100 votes if all the senators had participated, as it was two Democrats (Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Udall of Colorado) who missed the vote.
There is now a majority of Democrat-appointed judges on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which is something most people won’t care about, but that still matters a lot. They handle everything from issues affecting federal employees, including veterans, to patents and international trade. There are even some energy policy issues under their jurisdiction, so climate change could be positively impacted.
