Dale Ho, President Biden's judicial nominee to be United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, failed to secure a majority vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday afternoon when Senators voted along party lines for an 11-11 vote with only Democrats voting to advance his nomination after Republicans excoriated Biden's nominee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked 11-11 on the nomination of #DarkMoneyDaleHo, with NO Republicans voting to advance him to the Senate floor.
— JCN (@judicialnetwork) January 20, 2022
During the mark up, Senator Kennedy said that Dale Ho should be running for political office, not serving on the federal bench.
The discussion about Ho by Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee was scathing. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) ripped Ho for his "lack of candor" — a gentle way of saying he was dishonest — during his testimony before the committee and previous radical statements while working to undermine American institutions.
As Townhall has covered extensively, Ho has a track record of statements alleging that the United States Senate — the body debating his nomination and responsible for confirming him to the federal bench — is undemocratic. In addition, Ho has claimed that the Electoral College is also a tool of racism, and said Florida isn't a democracy.
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz attacked Ho's lack of temperament to be a federal judge, pointing to the radical nominee's choice to previously self-identify as a "wild-eyed leftist." Ho hasn't exactly portrayed himself as an independent arbiter of the law.
Dale Ho—Biden’s nominee for the Southern District of New York— wrote in his church newsletter about his hatred for conservatives.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 20, 2022
If you’re a conservative in Dale Ho’s courtroom – do you think you’re going to get a fair shake? pic.twitter.com/9oadOaUKlo
As only he can, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) pointed out that "everybody knows in this room that the nominee is more of an advocate and an activist than an impartial arbiter," alluding to Ho's previous career posts and frequent radical statements aimed at marginalizing conservatives and giving Democrats an advantage.
"We'll regret this," Kennedy continued of the prospect of Biden's nominee advancing. "Mr. Ho does not have the judicial temperament to wield the kind of power that a federal judge has. He needs to go run for Congress, or run for the Senate. But he doesn't need to be on the federal bench," Sen. Kennedy added.
Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) emphasized the absurdity of Ho's nomination and subsequent consideration by Democrat Senators. "It is a bizarre vote y'all are about to take, this guy should not be on the bench and you all know it," Sen. Sasse added. "I'm just perplexed as to why we're having this vote today."
Despite the fact that Dale Ho is an obvious activist with little chance of putting his partisan ideology aside should he be confirmed and one day preside over a federal courtroom, all Democrats on the committee voted to move Ho's nomination forward. The resulting 11-11 tie vote means Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will have to do a little extra work if he wants to bring Ho's confirmation vote to the floor.
And it wasn't just Dale Ho who proved too radical to draw any GOP support on the Judiciary Committee Thursday. Two other Biden nominees had their vote end in a tie, just more evidence that Biden's campaign promise of unity and moderate leadership was just smoke and mirrors that hasn't been borne out by his first year in the White House.
Senate Judiciary Cmte deadlocked 11-11 on 3 U.S. District Court nominations: Dale Ho for Southern New York, Charlotte Sweeney for Colorado, and Hernan Vera for Central California. Schumer will now need to move to discharge the nominees from cmte to full Senate for future action.
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) January 20, 2022