Sen. Kyrsten Sinema votes against Biden judicial nominee for 1st time

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema voted Wednesday against a federal judge nominated by President Joe Biden in what is believed to be the first such move for her during his administration.

Sinema, I-Ariz., voted not to confirm U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews to a seat on the bench in Colorado after serving as a federal magistrate judge there since 2018. The Senate has confirmed more than 160 judicial appointees for Biden so far.

Crews, who received his law degree from the University of Arizona, received the support of every Democrat who voted Wednesday — including Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. — to win confirmation, 51-48.

During a March hearing on his suitability for the lifetime appointment, Crews stumbled on the answer to a question from a Republican senator involving a prominent legal principle relating to evidence.

Sinema didn’t explain her vote against Crews in a statement or on her usual social media channels. A spokesperson didn’t respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

The no vote positioned Sinema, a former Democrat who became an independent in December 2022, opposite of Biden on at least one nomination and as her political intentions remain unclear.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Republicans Kari Lake, a former Phoenix news anchor, and Mark Lamb, the Pinal County sheriff, entered the race for her seat last year, but Sinema remains officially quiet on reelection.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who tracks judicial confirmation votes, said Sinema’s vote on Wednesday stood apart.

“I think she’s expressing her independence. She had been quite loyal to Biden before that,” Tobias said, adding that Sinema has voted yes on other nominees who faced some controversy or pushback from Republicans.

In March, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Crews how he would analyze a “Brady motion,” a reference to a landmark Maryland case in which the Supreme Court established that prosecutors must provide defendants evidence that might exonerate them.

Crews said he didn’t think he had been asked to process such a motion as a magistrate judge. Kennedy then asked Crews what a Brady motion is.

“I believe that the Brady case involved something regarding the Second Amendment,” Crews said. “I have not had an occasion to address that.”

Federal magistrate judges typically handle the initial appearances of defendants in criminal matters, determining what, if any, terms of release are appropriate. They can preside over misdemeanor federal criminal trials and pretrial motions. Federal district judges typically handle felony trials and the related legal questions that accompany felony cases.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, signaled in May GOP resistance to Crews’ nomination, saying he “could not have a prayer of even getting a single Republican vote on this committee.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema votes against Biden judicial nominee S. Kato Crews