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Senate confirmation hearings to begin for Biden’s Supreme Court pick Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

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Senate confirmation hearings to begin for Biden’s Supreme Court pick Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

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The Supreme Courtroom affirmation hearings for Decide Ketanji Brown Jackson will start Monday within the Senate, marking President Biden’s first nomination to the excessive court docket. 

With Democrats in slim management of the Senate and Jackson receiving three GOP votes prior to now for her affirmation to a federal appellate court docket, Jackson heads into the hearings on a stable path towards affirmation. 

However Republicans do not intend to let her off straightforward, elevating issues on every part from her previous work as a public defender representing Guantanamo Bay detainees and whether or not she was too lenient on intercourse offenders as a district court docket choose.

“The issue is I have never been capable of finding a single case the place she has had a toddler porn offender, a pedophile in entrance of her, the place she hasn’t given him probably the most lenient sentence she presumably may,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., not too long ago instructed “Hannity.”

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WHO IS BIDEN SUPREME COURT NOMINEE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON?

The White Home has dismissed Hawley’s claims as “conspiracy idea” and pointed to truth checks on his remarks from retailers just like the Washington Submit and the Related Press. 

“Decide Jackson is a proud mom of two whose nomination has been endorsed by main legislation enforcement organizations, conservative judges, and survivors of crime,” White Home spokesman Andrew Bates mentioned in a press release to Fox Information. “That is poisonous and weakly-presented misinformation that depends on taking cherry-picked parts of her report out of context – and it buckles beneath the lightest scrutiny.”

Democrats, in the meantime, have touted what they are saying are Jackson’s stellar credentials, evenhanded judicial report and bipartisan assist. Jackson has been endorsed by Decide Thomas Griffith, a well known, retired conservative federal choose, as nicely legislation enforcement teams just like the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

Decide Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks after President Joe Biden introduced Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Courtroom within the Cross Corridor of the White Home Feb. 25, 2022, in Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris listens at proper. 
(AP Photograph/Carolyn Kaster)

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“Her {qualifications} are distinctive,” mentioned Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ailing. “In each position she’s held, she has earned a repute for thoughtfulness, evenhandedness and collegiality. And simply as spectacular as Decide Jackson’s report is her character and temperament. Humble, personable, she’s devoted herself to creating our authorized system extra comprehensible and extra accessible for everybody who got here in her courtroom.”

GRASSLEY CALLS FOR JUDGE JACKSON RECORDS AMID GOP SCRUTINY OVER CHILD PORN SENTENCING; WHITE HOUSE PUSHES BACK

Jackson is a Harvard Regulation College graduate who was most not too long ago confirmed final spring in a 53-44 vote to serve on the highly effective U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She beforehand was a Senate-confirmed federal district court docket choose, member of the USA Sentencing Fee, a federal public defender and a non-public legal professional at 4 elite legislation corporations.

The schedule

4 days of hearings are scheduled for the Senate Judiciary Committee from March 21-25. The lengthy days of questioning for Jackson will probably be Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Monday will probably be a day of introductory statements beginning at 11 a.m. ET.

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Opening statements will probably be 10 minutes from every of the 22 Senate Judiciary Committee members, 5 minutes from the surface introducers — retired federal appeals court docket Decide Thomas Griffith and Professor Lisa Fairfax of the College of Pennsylvania Carey Regulation College – and 10 minutes from Decide Jackson herself.  

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks after President Biden announced Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Cross Hall of the White House Feb. 25, 2022.

Decide Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks after President Biden introduced Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Courtroom within the Cross Corridor of the White Home Feb. 25, 2022.
(AP Photograph/Carolyn Kaster)

Tuesday is when the 22 senators will start questioning Decide Jackson beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

Senators may have the chance to ask questions for half-hour every so as of seniority. Tuesday’s testimony is predicted to final nicely into the night.

Wednesday would be the second day of questions for Decide Jackson beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

Every of the 22 senators can ask a second spherical of questions for 20 minutes every. Afterward, the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet privately and will probably be permitted to ask Jackson about any materials contained in her FBI background investigation. This closed session is normal for each Supreme Courtroom nominee, no matter whether or not the background investigation has raised issues, in accordance with the committee.

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Thursday will embrace testimony from exterior witnesses beginning at 9 a.m. ET. Decide Jackson is not going to be current on Day 4. 

The witnesses will embrace the American Bar Affiliation, associates and colleagues talking on behalf of Decide Jackson and Republican-picked opposition audio system akin to victims or shedding events in Decide Jackson’s instances. 

COLLINS CALLS SUPREME COURT PICK JACKSON ‘IMPRESSIVE’ AFTER MEETING, BUT REMAINS UNDECIDED

Statements from the witnesses will probably be 5 minutes every, and query rounds from senators may also be 5 minutes every.

The senators

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings will probably be led by chairman Durbin. The highest Republican on the committee is Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Democrats are very supportive of Jackson and are anticipated to be pleasant questioners, whereas Republicans, together with former and potential presidential candidates, will dig into extra controversial subjects and put Decide Jackson and President Biden’s politics on the new seat.  

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Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduces Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken during Blinken's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington Jan. 19, 2021. Durbin will preside over Supreme Court confirmation hearings starting March 21, 2022. 

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ailing., introduces Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken throughout Blinken’s affirmation listening to earlier than the Senate International Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington Jan. 19, 2021. Durbin will preside over Supreme Courtroom affirmation hearings beginning March 21, 2022. 
(Graeme Jennings/Pool by way of AP)

Apart from Grassley, the extra 10 Republicans on the committee who will query Decide Jackson are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John Kennedy of Lousiana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, the one GOP girl on the committee. 

DEMS TOUT SUPREME COURT PICK JACKSON BACKING FROM GOP-APPOINTED JUDGES, POLICE GROUPS: ‘WIDE RANGE OF SUPPORT’

Along with Durbin, the ten different Democrats on the committee are senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Dianne Feinstein of California, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Chris Coons of Delaware, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Alex Padilla of California and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, one of many latest members of the Senate. 

The problems

Democrats have touted Decide Jackson’s distinctive report as a public defender from 2005 to 2007, however Republicans have sought to painting her work as having particular empathy for convicted criminals. 

“I assume that implies that authorities prosecutors and harmless crime victims begin every trial at a drawback,” Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has mentioned. 

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One space of particular controversy is the work she did as a public defender representing 4 Guantanamo Bay detainees, which some Republicans have depicted as “defending terrorists.” Decide Jackson mentioned in a written response to the committee that ethics guidelines that apply to legal professionals imply an “legal professional has an obligation to signify her shoppers zealously” no matter private views.

Bates, the White Home spokesman, added: “Public defenders don’t select their shoppers and they’re obligated to do their job competently.”

Decide Jackson’s selections on government privilege are additionally beneath scrutiny. Maybe her most high-profile opinion got here on the D.C. District Courtroom within the case between the Home Judiciary Committee and former White Home counsel Don McGahn. McGahn was ordered by Trump to not testify earlier than the committee, regardless of a subpoena citing government privilege.  

Jackson dominated that McGahn could possibly be pressured to testify, writing that “presidents will not be kings.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks on the Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. 
(AP Photograph/John Raoux)

And a few Republicans have sought to color Jackson as too tender on criminals, primarily based partially on her work on the U.S. Sentencing Fee, which lowered sentences for drug offenders by addressing the disparity between crack and powder cocaine drug crimes. The reforms had bipartisan assist on the time.

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HAWLEY RAISES CONCERNS OVER BIDEN’S SUPREME COURT JUSTICE PICK GIVING SEX OFFENDERS ‘LENIENT SENTENCES’

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has been elevating issues over what he mentioned was lax sentencing of about 10 little one pornography offenders by Decide Jackson, suggesting a sample of going tender on sure legal defendants. “I’m involved that this a report that endangers our kids,” Hawley mentioned. 

The White Home’s Bates says within the “overwhelming majority” of Decide Jackson’s instances involving little one intercourse crimes, Jackson imposed sentences that “have been in keeping with or above what the federal government or U.S. Probation really helpful.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) questions Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing titled Protecting Kids Online: Instagram and Reforms for Young Users on Capitol Hill, December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. Blackburn will be questioning Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during Judiciary Committee Supreme Court hearings. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) questions Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri throughout a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee listening to titled Defending Youngsters On-line: Instagram and Reforms for Younger Customers on Capitol Hill, December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. Blackburn will probably be questioning Decide Ketanji Brown Jackson throughout Judiciary Committee Supreme Courtroom hearings. (Photograph by Drew Angerer/Getty Photos)
(Drew Angerer/Getty Photos)

Republicans additionally plan to press Decide Jackson whether or not she agrees with liberal teams backing her, akin to Demand Justice, which have pushed to develop the Supreme Courtroom with further justices.

Blackburn “will ask Decide Jackson if she helps the positions of the novel left-wing teams which might be funding a large PR blitz to get her confirmed – akin to packing the Courtroom,” a Blackburn aide instructed Fox Information. “The American individuals have a proper to know if Decide Jackson will capitulate to the novel left and be part of their name to pack the court docket.”

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The stakes

If confirmed, Decide Jackson will make historical past, fulfilling President Biden’s marketing campaign promise to call the primary Black girl to the Supreme Courtroom. 

She’d succeed the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, for whom she as soon as clerked.

President Biden delivers remarks on the retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, left, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington Jan. 27, 2022. 

President Biden delivers remarks on the retirement of Supreme Courtroom Affiliate Justice Stephen Breyer, left, within the Roosevelt Room of the White Home in Washington Jan. 27, 2022. 
(AP Photograph/Andrew Harnik)

The ideological make-up of the court docket will stay the identical with a 6-3 break up in favor of justices appointed by Republican presidents. 

The Supreme Courtroom within the coming months will probably be deciding hot-button points like abortion entry, gun rights, non secular liberty disputes, immigration limits and affirmative motion.

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Fox Information’ Kelly Laco, Tyler Olson, Invoice Mears and Shannon Bream contributed to this report. 

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to House Republicans releasing their tax and spending cut plan

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to House Republicans releasing their tax and spending cut plan

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House Republican leaders spent nearly five hours at the White House on Thursday – some of it with President Donald Trump – as they tried to finalize the outline of their tax and spending cut package. 

The plan is to release a framework with some numbers in the coming days. 

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Fox is told to expect north of $1 trillion in spending cuts. The bill would make permanent the 2017 Trump tax cuts. It is also likely the bill includes a provision to bar taxes on tips. 

‘POWER GRAB’: JEFFRIES UNVEILS DATA PROTECTION BILL AMID DOGE CRACKDOWN

Congress is racing to be ready to execute the recommendations of President Donald Trump’s new DOGE commission. (Getty Images)

House Republicans hoped to have a bill ready to go before the Budget Committee this week after their retreat at Mar-a-Lago. 

But no dice. 

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Republicans hope to prep this bill before the House Budget Committee next week. 

DOGE TARGETS MEDICARE AGENCY, LOOKING FOR FRAUD

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Trump agenda

House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, discusses President Donald Trump’s agenda during an appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures.” (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images/ Fox News Channel)

When asked if a plan would be unveiled Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News, “nothing today” on paper or details of a budget package.

He said the committee markup may come Tuesday, but that there are a couple of details to “work out.”

Republicans need a budget framework adopted on the floor so they can use the budget reconciliation tool to bypass a Senate filibuster. No budget? No reconciliation option. 

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House GOPers are feeling pressure from Senate Republicans who are pressing ahead with their own plan. Senate Republicans dine at Mar-a-Lago tonight with President Trump. 

House Republicans are worried if they stumble at moving first, they could get jammed by the Senate. 

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Opinion: Trump's Gaza plan echoes decades-old Israeli calls to expel Palestianians

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Opinion: Trump's Gaza plan echoes decades-old Israeli calls to expel Palestianians

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, was received warmly by President Trump at the White House.

Netanyahu, a longtime backer of Trump, beamed with satisfaction as the two men met with reporters and Trump declared that Palestinians, driven from their homes by Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, should be “resettled” in third countries. This declaration is effectively an endorsement of calls from the Israeli right (including senior government officials) to expel Palestinians that go back decades and have accelerated since Oct. 7, 2023. Trump even said that the U.S. would “take over” Gaza.

The president’s remarks should not be taken lightly. They’re just the latest in a series he’s made recently about moving Palestinians out of Gaza, chillingly speaking of the need to “clean out” the territory and asking the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and even Indonesia to take them in. If implemented, such a plan would result in massive upheaval and even more bloodshed and destabilization in the region, and it would involve American troops occupying and colonizing Palestinian land in violation of international law.

If anyone doubts the seriousness of Trump’s statements. have no doubt that Netanyahu could consider them a green light to finish what is at the least the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, whether it’s carried out by Israeli or American soldiers. Indeed, on Thursday, the Israeli military was ordered to prepare plans for the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians out of Gaza.

Trump was careful to couch his plan in humanitarian terms, as do Israeli officials when they speak of expelling Palestinians, employing euphemisms like voluntary departure or voluntary migration, but make no mistake: It would involve the forced displacement of some 2 million people. Forced displacement and resettlement are war crimes, even when done under the pretext of humanitarian intent.

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Meanwhile, on the ground in Gaza, Israel’s military has continued to kill and injure Palestinians since the cease-fire came into effect last month, and according to an Israeli media report, Netanyahu wants Trump’s support for the “eradication” of Hamas. On Sunday, Israel failed to meet a deadline to send a negotiating team to discuss Phase 2 of the ceasefire. Netanyahu appears to view the cease-fire as merely a tactical pause and has little or no intention of making it permanent.

At the heart of Trump’s Middle East policy is a delusion that was shared by President Biden and fueled by Netanyahu: Israel can get the benefits of peace while still occupying and dispossessing Palestinians. In reality, Netanyahu’s fantasies of integrating Israel into the Middle East by normalizing its relations with regional governments such as Saudi Arabia are nothing more than a mirage born of arrogance and ignorance.

Even if Trump were to broker a deal between the two countries, it wouldn’t mean Israel was truly accepted by its neighbors and ordinary people in the region. Efforts by Trump and Biden to integrate Israel into the Middle East under the Abraham Accords without addressing Israel’s oppression of Palestinians have been followed by the deadliest period in recent history in Palestine/Israel.

Any illusion of peace created by the cease-fire in Gaza or the Abraham Accords is just that: an illusion. The underlying cause of the violence in the region — 77 years of unrelenting Israeli oppression and dispossession of Palestinians — remains. Unless or until it is addressed, there will never be genuine or lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

We as Palestinians, especially the people of Gaza, have suffered too much and endured horrors that no people should endure. But it must be clear to the Israelis, Americans and the whole world that we will never surrender to injustice, and we will never stop struggling for our freedom.

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Trump’s and Netanyahu’s plans for Gaza and the Palestinian people must be categorically rejected by the international community and all people of conscience.

Mustafa Barghouti is leader and co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative headquartered in the West Bank.

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Trump Trade Nominee Defends Plan to Reorder International Trade

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Trump Trade Nominee Defends Plan to Reorder International Trade

Jamieson Greer, President Trump’s nominee to be the next U.S. trade representative, defended the president’s plan to impose tariffs on all imported products and told senators he would work to restructure international trading relationships during his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

Mr. Greer, a trade lawyer and former Trump administration official, told the Senate Finance Committee that he believed the United States “should be a country of producers” as well as consumers, and that he would work to open international markets for U.S. farmers and try to “reverse” the deindustrialization of the nation.

Mr. Greer said Mr. Trump’s idea of imposing a universal tariff on all imports should be studied to see if it would reduce the U.S. trade deficit. He also said he would review whether China, along with Mexico and Canada, were complying trade deals they reached with the United States during Mr. Trump’s first term.

“I am convinced that we have a relatively short window of time to restructure the international trading system to better serve U.S. interests,” Mr. Greer said.

Mr. Greer is the former deputy of Robert E. Lighthizer, the trade representative in Mr. Trump’s first term. Mr. Greer negotiated with China, Canada, Mexico and other countries in that role, and supporters say he has an extensive knowledge of trade law.

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His position could be an important one, given Mr. Trump’s proposals to upend global trading relationships with sweeping tariffs. The trade representative will likely help carry out Mr. Trump’s tariff wars, and potentially renegotiate the trade agreement the United States has signed with Canada and Mexico.

But it is unclear exactly how much autonomy the position will have in the current administration, given that Mr. Trump has said he will put Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary, in charge of his trade policy. Mr. Trump himself also has strong views on trade and once remarked that if elected, he would be his own U.S.T.R.

On Thursday, Senate Democrats questioned that arrangement and denounced Mr. Trump’s trade moves over the past week, in which the president came within hours of imposing a 25 percent tariff on goods from America’s largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, as he sought concessions related to the border and drugs.

Mr. Trump ultimately chose to pause tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but put an additional 10 percent tariff on all imports from China — more than $400 billion of products — on Tuesday.

Senate Democrats said they would work with the Trump administration to combat unfair trade and open foreign markets, but called the actions against Canada and Mexico “reckless” and “erratic.”

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Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said he was concerned about other Trump officials using trade policy to pursue goals that had nothing to do with trade.

“International trade policy is just too important to American families, workers, small businesses, manufacturers and farmers to sacrifice to make headlines on unrelated issues,” he said.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat of Nevada, said a small business in her state had a Canadian customercancel a project because of the uncertain trade relationship, costing them tens of thousands of dollars.

“There’s got to be answers for so many businesses that are actually being, unfortunately, victims of this trade war,” Ms. Cortez Masto said.

Republican senators expressed support for Mr. Greer and the president’s actions. But some expressed concern about tariffs increasing input prices for farmers, and retaliation from other countries affecting U.S. exporters.

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Clete Willems, a partner at Akin Gump who worked on trade policy in the first Trump White House, said that Mr. Greer had similar views on trade as those of his former boss, Mr. Lighthizer: that the global trading system had evolved in a way that has not been beneficial or fair to the United States.

Mr. Lighthizer tried “to upend that order and remake a lot of the international trading rules in a way that was more equitable to the United States,” Mr. Willems said. “And I think Jamieson will continue that.”

Mr. Willems said that Mr. Greer would bring to the role years of practical experience and an intimate knowledge of what actions trade laws allow.

“He is going to be at the center of this because they need him,” Mr. Willems said.

The U.S. trade representative leads a small agency of more than 200 people that has offices in Washington, Geneva and Brussels. The office is charged with carrying out trade negotiations and resolving economic disputes with other countries, as well as working with lawmakers, farmers and business owners to shape trade policy.

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“Jamieson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on reining in the Country’s massive Trade Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Services, and opening up Export Markets everywhere,” Mr. Trump said in a statement on social media in November.

In contrast to some of Mr. Trump’s other nominees, who have a more antagonistic relationship with their own bureaucracy, Mr. Greer is liked by many of the staff he will be in charge of, current and former U.S.T.R. employees say.

Before his work at the trade representative’s office, Mr. Greer was a lawyer for the Air Force and was deployed to Iraq. Mr. Greer said Thursday that he had grown up in a mobile home with parents who regularly worked several jobs, and that he was “mindful of the struggles that Americans face when they’re cut out of economic growth.”

After the first Trump term, Mr. Greer became a partner in international trade at the law firm King & Spalding.

His financial disclosures showed that he worked for clients including steel firm Cleveland-Cliffs, agricultural organizations like the J.R. Simplot Company and the National Milk Producers Federation, oil and gas company Talos Energy, and a variety of chemical companies, including BASF. He has promised to resign his position at King & Spalding if confirmed.

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