{"id":2703911,"date":"2026-11-11T12:54:22","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T17:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigna-week-after-midterm-rout-gop-sens-boozman-cotton-sink-trump-judicial-pick\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T13:01:20","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T18:01:20","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigna-week-after-midterm-rout-gop-sens-boozman-cotton-sink-trump-judicial-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigna-week-after-midterm-rout-gop-sens-boozman-cotton-sink-trump-judicial-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Sens. Boozman, Cotton Sink Trump Judicial Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigna-week-after-midterm-rout-gop-sens-boozman-cotton-sink-trump-judicial-pick%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2703911&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The White House withdrew President Trump\u2019s nomination of District Judge Lee rudofsky to the 8th Circuit after Arkansas senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton reportedly worked to block him, instead putting forward Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Hiland. Rudofsky confirmed the withdrawal, saying a nominee needs home-state senatorial support to be viable. Boozman declined to deny coordinating opposition. Observers criticized Hiland for publicly lamenting being offered a lower court spot. Other Trump nominees have also faced GOP resistance, and incoming House Democrats plan to oppose confirmations next year, leaving many judicial vacancies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The White House was all but forced to withdraw one of President Trump\u2019s judicial picks on Tuesday after Arkansas Republican Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton reportedly maneuvered to block his nomination. The shady move came a week after the GOP took a shellacking in the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>The administration disclosed in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/11\/nominations-and-withdrawals-sent-to-the-senate-b6a4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press release<\/a> that District Judge Lee Rudofsky\u2019s nomination to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has been withdrawn from the Senate. The president has instead nominated Arkansas Supreme Court Justice James Hiland for the post.<\/p>\n<p>Rudofsky, who previously served as Arkansas\u2019 solicitor general, also confirmed in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KaelanDC\/status\/2120286914674663929?a=pqGcEchwcjHEsLvfXGY&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a> that he had been taken out of consideration for the judgeship. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will be forever grateful to President Trump for the honor of his nomination. But under our Constitution \u2014 which I believe is the most ingenious document in the history of the world \u2014 the President\u2019s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. And the reality is that, without the support of my home-state Senators, confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in today\u2019s Senate,\u201d Rudofsky said. \u201cSo I understand completely the President\u2019s decision to withdraw my nomination. Cody Hiland is a solid jurist and a good friend. I look forward to working with him in the federal judiciary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/10\/senate-committee-advances-trump-judicial-noms-to-floor-for-final-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, news reports emerged earlier this week indicating that Boozman and Cotton were working behind the scenes to sabotage Rudofsky\u2019s nomination due to a preference for Hiland. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4798181\/trump-senate-confirmation-25-judicial-nominees\/?srsltid=AYCX9vKXQLEsC4y7f0XDX3nqDr2MnT9uiWtTnAdmmiadexhJBGxtHmwZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Neither<\/a> senator introduced Rudofsky during his September confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, as per normal custom.<\/p>\n<p>Boozman, who is up for reelection in 2028, has not disputed the allegations about his efforts to sink Rudofsky\u2019s nomination. When <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KaelanDC\/status\/2120259785585016845?a=cFqS3R7nIYxtOGCK-8E&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a> by the Washington Examiner on Tuesday about whether he was scheming with outgoing Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. \u2014 two members of the Judiciary Committee \u2014 to block the president\u2019s pick in order to get Hiland the job, the senior senator replied, \u201cWould that be wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy conversations with fellow senators are conversations between us,\u201d Boozman added when asked if such efforts were true. <\/p>\n<p>Law professor Josh Blackman recently <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2026\/11\/09\/justice-cody-hiland-publicly-criticizes-the-president-for-nominating-him-to-district-court-instead-of-eighth-circuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">observed<\/a> how Hiland \u201cdemonstrated absolutely terrible judgment\u201d in August by disclosing to a room full of college students \u201cprivate communications between him and the White House Counsel\u201d about his consideration for the federal bench. The Arkansas justice openly lamented being passed over for the 8th Circuit position and seemingly boasted about rejecting an offer to serve as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wow-georgia-judge-who-also-is-stacy-abrams-sister-blocks-elections-officials-from-challenging-voters-who-live-outside-of-registered-district\/\" title=\"WOW! Georgia Judge Who Also Is Stacy Abrams\u2019 Sister ...S Elections Officials from Challenging Voters Who Live Outside of Registered District!\">district court judge<\/a> instead. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd so, being belligerent, and at times I said no. That is not a position that I\u2019m interested in,\u201d Hiland said. \u201cAnd he came back with after a five second delay of, you know. not believing what I just said. He said, \u2018So you want me to go back into the Oval Office and tell the president of the United States that you\u2019re rejecting an opportunity to be appointed to the federal bench,\u2019 and I said, \u2018Yes, that\u2019s exactly what I want you to tell the president of the United States.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rudofsky isn\u2019t the only one of Trump\u2019s judicial selections to face sudden pushback from Republican senators.<\/p>\n<p>Outgoing Oklahoma Sen. Alan Armstrong, who was appointed to replace now-Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, abruptly <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/business-and-practice\/oklahoma-senators-opposition-imperils-trump-trial-court-pick\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reversed course<\/a> on Tuesday to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/bench-memos\/whats-the-matter-with-oklahoma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oppose<\/a> Trump\u2019s nomination of Zachary West to serve as a district judge for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. The junior senator\u2019s effort has already received the backing of Tillis, \u201cwho said the White House stumbled in vetting Zach West,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/oliviaalafriz\/status\/2120495780192453050?a=SGFeujamzzxUII342ro&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bloomberg Law<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey just need to sort it out or get somebody else,\u201d Tillis said. <\/p>\n<p>Armstrong is set to be succeeded by GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, who won the seat last week, on Nov. 30.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate\u2019s move to confirm Trump\u2019s judicial picks before the end of the year comes amid leading Democrats\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/schumer-trump-democrat-majority-election-d8d5262fe3d820a3dc73193002f0f27e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pledge<\/a> to block such nominations after their party assumes control of Congress in January. There are currently more than two dozen Article III vacancies waiting to be filled, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Current_federal_judicial_vacancies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ballotpedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White House withdraws Trump judge as Ark GOP blocks bid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2703912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Untitled-Design-2.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[83527,5536,52385],"class_list":["post-2703911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-boozman","tag-cotton","tag-republican-senators"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Untitled-Design-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2703911"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2703915,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703911\/revisions\/2703915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2703912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2703911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2703911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2703911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}