'Tone-deaf': Biden allies in Puerto Rico sound alarm over judicial picks
The island’s governor and others were already irked with Biden for failing to champion Puerto Rican statehood as president.
2022-01-25 20:21:59 - VI News Staff
MIAMI — President Joe Biden’s top allies in Puerto Rico are growing alarmed that the White House is creating a rift with the island’s governor by snubbing his recommendations for three federal court vacancies.
The controversy — fraught with political consequences for Puerto Rican-heavy states like Florida and New York — began to surface last week amid rumblings on the island that a bipartisan consensus pick promoted by Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat; Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican; and Democratic Rep. Darren Soto of Florida might never be interviewed or considered for federal judgeships in the territory.
At the same time, word leaked that the White House is vetting another candidate who's not supported by any of Puerto Rico’s political leaders and who, opponents said, has expressed pro-independence sympathies in the past.
And that’s a no-go for Pierluisi, González and Soto, all of whom are pro-statehood politicians.
“The White House has gone tone-deaf,” said Carmelo Ríos Santiago, a Puerto Rico senator and a top ally of Pierluisi who was a Biden campaign co-chairman in Puerto Rico in 2020.
Ríos, the secretary of the island’s pro-statehood party, added that the governor and others were already irked with Biden for failing to champion Puerto Rican statehood as president, despite his past support. During the 2020 campaign, he promised to engage with those on all sides of the status debate for a process that would allow Puerto Ricans to "determine their own status."
“It’s customary to at least have the courtesy to listen to and weigh the opinion of the governor and the resident commissioner of the island, but that’s not happening, and now we hear names not even on the list,” Ríos said. “How do you want to have a judge on the U.S. District Court who’s an independentista, one who doesn’t want Puerto Rico to be part of the U.S. but instead be independent?”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates cautioned that the process is early and said no decisions had been made for any of the three open spots on the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
“The White House has received recommendations from and been consulting in good faith with a variety of leaders in Puerto Rico, and that will continue,” Bates said in a written statement. “We do not discuss vetting processes publicly, but the President looks forward to nominating highly qualified individuals for these positions.”
A Pierluisi spokeswoman declined to comment and refused to provide NBC News with his list of recommended names for the federal bench, saying the names were confidential.