Biden nixes plan to nominate anti-abortion attorney for federal judge: reports

President Biden is dropping his plans to nominate a conservative Kentucky attorney as a federal judge in the state following opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), according to The New York Times and USA Today.

The White House said the Biden administration learned that Paul will not return a “blue slip” on Chad Meredith, so Biden will not nominate him, according to USA Today.

The senators from the state of a federal judge nominee traditionally provide a blue slip to declare their support for their nomination going forward.

The administration faced controversy after it was revealed that Biden planned to nominate Meredith, a former Kentucky solicitor general who has fought to limit abortion access in the state, in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Biden had allegedly made a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to nominate Meredith in exchange for McConnell not holding up other Biden nominees to federal judgeships.

The White House and Paul’s office did not immediately return requests from The Hill for comment.

McConnell told The New York Times in an interview that the White House intended to nominate Meredith until Paul objected. McConnell denied that a deal was in place for him to do anything in return for Meredith’s nomination.

Instead, he said that Biden’s consideration of Meredith represented cooperation on judges that was once routine but had petered out in recent years.

Two progressive organizations launched ad campaigns on Tuesday to urge Biden to abandon any alleged deal he may have made with McConnell on nominating Meredith.

Biden reportedly notified Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) of his intent to nominate Meredith on June 23, one day before the court overturned Roe v. Wade. Meredith was never formally nominated or announced as a nominee.

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