RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The U.S. Senate has confirmed a 37-year-old lawyer as a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals despite opposition from civil rights and LGBTQ groups.
Allison Jones Rushing was nominated by President Donald Trump in August for the lifetime appointment. She was confirmed Tuesday by a vote along party lines.
The 4th Circuit hears federal appeals from Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia.
Rushing is a partner at Williams & Connolly, a Washington law firm, and interned at the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group.
Republicans praised Rushing's confirmation. Democrats and a coalition of more than 200 civil rights groups were strongly opposed.
The Washington Post reported that in a letter to senators, the coalition described Rushing as an unqualified "ideological extremist."
