Sheldon Whitehouse Questions Trump Judicial Nominee Jennifer Mascott on Delaware Voting and Legal Experience

Judicial Nominee's Experience and Delaware Connections

• ❓ Senator Whitehouse questioned Jennifer Mascott, a nominee for the United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, focusing on her litigation experience.
• 💡 Mascott stated she has extensive experience with amicus briefs and has argued cases in courts of appeals, as well as a summary judgment and trial in the District of Massachusetts.
• 🗳️ When asked if she had ever voted in Delaware, Mascott initially discussed having a long-time home there before stating she votes in Maryland and is registered to vote in Delaware as a public servant and professor.
• 🚗 Mascott confirmed she does not yet have a Delaware driver's license but has a car insured in Delaware and a summer house there.

Board Membership and Controversial Associations

• 🤝 Mascott was on the board of the New Civil Liberties Alliance until July 2021, stepping down due to their litigation stance which she disagreed with.
• 📰 She stated she learned of Jeffrey Clark's hiring through newspaper accounts and was not consulted or involved in his hiring process as a member of the advisory board.

Views on the Administrative State and Fossil Fuel Industry

• 🏛️ Whitehouse raised concerns about Mascott's use of the term "administrative state," her calls to overturn Humphrey's Executor and Chevron deference, and her support for the "major questions doctrine."
• 🏭 These positions, he argued, are significant to the fossil fuel industry, a major Republican donor, which has a long-standing conflict with regulatory agencies.
• ⚖️ Mascott responded that if confirmed, she would serve as a judge, impartially resolving cases and controversies, not policy matters, and would maintain impartiality for the rule of law.