Despite only having the backing of one home-state senator, President Joe Biden still supports the nomination of 16th Circuit Court District Attorney Scott Colom for the U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Biden nominated Colom in October 2022 for the judgeship. U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat who serves Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District, recommended Colom for nomination.
“We believe Scott (Colom) is a thoroughly qualified candidate,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during a Thursday press briefing. “… We’re going to leave it there and continue to support his candidacy, his nomination.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith announced she would not support Colom’s nomination to the federal judgeship citing “Colom’s opposition to legislation to protect female athletes” and support he received during his 2015 campaign from Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.
Colom, a Democrat, was first elected district attorney for the 16th Circuit Court District in 2015 and ran unopposed in 2019. During his 2015 campaign, Mississippi Safety and Justice, a political super-PAC funded by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, spent $716,125.72 in support of Colom’s election, according to Mississippi Secretary of State records. Colom told The Dispatch at the time he had no direct involvement with that.
He and 73 others signed a joint-statement in June 2021 stating they do not support the criminalization of doctors or parents who help someone through gender-affirming care or of individuals who use facilities aligned with their gender identity. The statement does not mention athletes or athletics at all.
The nomination goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will either call for a hearing on Colom’s candidacy or deny it. However, each senator from Mississippi is allowed to partake in the “blue slip” process, which allows the two senators to have a say on federal judgeship positions.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker’s team told The Dispatch he returned his blue slip after voicing support for Colom in January, and Hyde-Smith announced she would not return her blue slip.
The lack of two blue slips will not always stop a nominee from receiving a hearing, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee website. However, it is not often that hearings happen for the nominee without both blue slips.
“It is unfortunate, sadly, that regardless of being duly consulted well in advance and despite Sen. Wicker returning a blue slip, Sen. Hyde-Smith is preventing the people of Mississippi from having a judge in place in a timely fashion to uphold the rule of law for her state,” Jean-Pierre said. “So, you know, furthermore, Sen. Hyde-Smith never raised these issues before today, over the course of months, including when she met with Mr. Colom several weeks ago and never suggested any alternative candidates. And so, … we’re going to stick with our — we think — our highly qualified candidate, and I’ll leave it there.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the amount of money donated in support of Colom’s 2015 campaign by the Mississippi Safety and Justice PAC. The story has been updated to reflect the accurate amount.
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