A Biden administration nominee to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals faced criticism at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday over his work for a Democratic attorney general, and a Republican member warned that he had lined up support to block his nomination.
Ryan Park, the top appellate lawyer for Democratic North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein since 2020, was nominated this month to serve on the Richmond-based 4th Circuit. Park would be the first Asian American to serve on the court if confirmed to the lifetime post.
Louisiana Republican U.S. Senator John Kennedy at Wednesday's hearing questioned whether Park failed to zealously defend a North Carolina voter identification law. Kennedy called Park an “activist” state solicitor general who would try to “bend the law” to comport with his beliefs.
Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina on Wednesday said he had secured enough support to block Park’s nomination from advancing on the Senate floor. Democrats on the panel defended Park's record, saying that as a lawyer he was obligated to fairly represent the attorney general's interests.
In his testimony, Park said he would weigh cases impartially if appointed as a judge. He also said that state solicitors do not make policy. “We are not elected officials,” Park said. He denied being an activist and noted that Republican state solicitors general have been confirmed as federal appeals judges.
Park did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden has prioritized nominating women and racial or ethnic minorities as U.S. court nominees in an effort to bolster the diversity of the federal bench. The Senate so far has confirmed more than 200 judges in the Biden era, including prior 4th Circuit nominees Toby Heytens, DeAndrea Benjamin and Nicole Berner.
Park's nomination has garnered support from law enforcement groups, including the National Fraternal Order of Police and North Carolina Police Benevolent Association.
As North Carolina's solicitor general, Park has argued twice in the U.S. Supreme Court and argued more than 30 cases in appellate courts.
In one case at the U.S. Supreme Court, he defended the University of North Carolina in a lawsuit by affirmative action opponents challenging its consideration of race in student admissions. The justices in a 6-3 order ruled against UNC and Harvard in a landmark ruling that curbed the use of practices designed to increase enrollment of Black, Hispanic and other minority students.
Park previously was a law clerk to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice David Souter at the U.S. Supreme Court. A group of former clerks representing the high court's liberal and conservative wings called Park "eminently qualified" for the appeals court.
He was an associate from 2014 to 2017 at law firm Boies Schiller Flexner.
The judiciary panel also was set to consider a group of federal trial court nominees on Wednesday. They are Byron Conway for the Eastern District of Wisconsin; Jonathan Hawley for the Central District of Illinois; April Perry for the Northern District of Illinois; and Gail Weilheimer for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Also on Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced his plan to nominate three more U.S. district court judges.
They are New York Court of Appeals Judge Anthony Brindisi for a seat on the Northern District of New York; Tiffany Johnson, a federal prosecutor in Georgia for a slot on that state’s Northern District bench; and Keli Neary, a civil division leader in the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office for a seat on the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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