The White House officially withdrew the nomination of Michael Bogren to a district judgeship in Michigan on Wednesday, bowing to GOP senators who said they couldn’t vote for him.
Mr. Bogren had said earlier this month he would end his bid for the seat after criticism over the way he handled a case as a lawyer, comparing a Catholic family’s beliefs about marriage to racism of the Ku Klux Klan.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican and a member of the Judiciary Committee, had led the opposition, saying Mr. Bogren was free to represent clients but went overboard with a “scorched-earth strategy” against the Catholic couple, who were denied a spot at a farmer’s market in East Lansing because they refused to rent their orchard for same-sex weddings ceremonies.
Fellow Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, also members of the committee, had signaled they, too, would have voted against Mr. Bogren. If all Democrats had also voted against him, it would have been enough to block his nomination in committee.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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