Third Senate Democratic member opposes Biden’s contentious judicial nominee

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D., Nev.) on Wednesday became the third Democrat in the Senate to come out against Adeel Mangi, President Joe Biden’s controversial nominee to serve as a federal appeals court judge. 

Rosen joined Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D., Nev.) and Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) in opposing Mangi, a Muslim-American lawyer and nominee to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, according to NBC News. Mangi is seeking the Senate’s confirmation but has faced pushback in recent months from Senate Republicans due to his affiliation with anti-cop and anti-Israel groups.  

“Given the concerns I’ve heard from law enforcement in Nevada, I am not planning to vote to confirm this nominee,” Rosen said in a statement Wednesday.

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients denounced the backlash against Mangi in a statement to NBC. “Some Senate Republicans and their extreme allies are relentlessly smearing Adeel Mangi with baseless accusations that he is anti-police,” Zients said. “That could not be further from the truth, and the close-to-a-dozen law enforcement organizations that have endorsed him agree.”

Manchin on Friday said he would not vote for Mangi, describing the Biden-backed lawyer as not a “reasonable” nominee. Last Tuesday, Cortez Masto became the first Senate Democrat to publicly oppose Mangi’s confirmation, citing Mangi’s role as an advisory board member at the Alliance of Families for Justice. 

“This organization has sponsored a fellowship in the name of Kathy Boudin, a member of the domestic terrorist organization Weather Underground, and advocated for the release of individuals convicted of killing police officers. I cannot support this nominee,” Cortez Masto said in a statement, calling Mangi’s affiliation with the AFJ “deeply concerning.”

The opposition from the senators puts Mangi’s confirmation in jeopardy. The Biden nominee was approved earlier this year in the Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote but will still need 50 votes to be confirmed in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim 51-to-49 majority. No Republicans have announced they would support Mangi.