Trump nominates judge for Kavanaugh’s old seat

President Donald Trump is nominating Neomi Rao to fill Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s former seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Rao is the seventh law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas whom Trump has nominated to the federal bench.

Speaking at the White House’s Diwali celebration Tuesday, the president said he was slated to make the announcement on Wednesday, but was so delighted by the event he spontaneously decided to reveal Rao’s pending nomination. Diwali is a Hindu religious festival and Rao is Indian-American.

“I just nominated Neomi to be on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the seat of Justice Brett Kavanaugh,” Trump said. “We were going to announce that tomorrow, then I said, ‘You know, here we are, Neomi, we’re never going to do better than this right?’”

“Thank you very much, Mr. President, for the confidence you’ve shown in me,” Rao replied. “I greatly appreciate it.”