California Sen. Dianne Feinstein noted that among the committee’s first tasks will be to consider appointees to the high court and for attorney general. | Getty Feinstein issues warning on Trump judicial nominees

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, just named the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned Wednesday that the group “will pay very close attention to proposed nominees” from President-elect Donald Trump.

In a statement on her election to the post, Feinstein described Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Antonin Scalia as “a moderate judge who should have been quickly confirmed.”


“After the unprecedented and disrespectful treatment” of Garland, she said, “the committee will pay very close attention to proposed nominees to ensure the fundamental constitutional rights of Americans are protected.”

“When President-elect Trump is willing to support responsible policies and nominees, I’ll hear him out, but this committee has a vital role to protect the Constitution and scrutinize policies, senior officials and judges very carefully, and that’s what we intend to do,” Feinstein continued. “We simply won’t stand aside and watch the tremendous successes achieved over the past eight years be swept away or allow our nation’s most vulnerable populations to be targeted.”

Feinstein noted that among the committee’s first tasks will be to consider appointees to the high court and for attorney general.

As the minority party facing Republican control of both houses of Congress and the White House, Democrats in the Senate will be under pressure to decide whether or not to filibuster Trump’s choices for those positions. Especially if other vacancies crop up over the course of his presidency, Trump has the potential to reshape the Supreme Court's direction for years.

Trump unveiled a list of 11 potential Supreme Court picks in May and has added several names since.

Asked by CBS interviewer Lesley Stahl about his criteria for selecting judicial appointees, Trump confirmed he'd pick “pro-life” judges who would also be “very pro-Second Amendment.”

As for Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision barring states from preventing women from having an abortion, Trump said that women seeking the procedure might have to “go to another state” if the decision were overturned.