The United States Senate on Tuesday advanced the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee Anne-Leigh Moe to serve as U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida. The vote was 53–46.
Trump celebrated the confirmation with a post on his Truth Social account.
“I am pleased to announce the nomination of Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida,” Trump wrote.
“Anne-Leigh has fiercely advocated for Sunshine State residents as a Judge on Florida’s Second District Court of Appeals, and as Trial Judge on Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court. Anne-Leigh will prioritize LAW AND ORDER unlike other activist Judges who put the safety of Illegal Criminals over the safety of AMERICANS. Congratulations Anne-Leigh!” Trump added.
Moe has served as a judge on Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal since 2022. Before that, she spent nearly a decade as a circuit judge in the state’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, which includes Hillsborough County. She previously worked as an assistant state attorney in Tampa.
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Her confirmation marks another major judicial win for the Trump administration as it continues to fill vacancies across the federal courts.
That’s because, according to the CNN data analyst, it doesn’t seem to be hurting him politically as much as it is hurting Democrats. In fact, Enten says, Trump’s faring well.
Enten compared Trump’s current net approval rating to his standing during the 2018–2019 shutdown, noting that at a similar point in that earlier standoff, Trump’s approval had already declined by three percentage points and “would fall considerably more.”
In contrast, Enten said the current shutdown has so far had no measurable impact on Trump’s overall support and in fact, he’s even up by a point.
“This shutdown hasn’t eaten into Donald Trump support at all. His net approval rating is actually up a point in terms of his popular support,” Enten said. “So the bottom line is this: the first shutdown during Trump’s first term, 2018-2019, was hurting Donald Trump. This one is not hurting him at all. There’s no real reason Donald Trump might say, at least when it comes to popular support, ‘I want to get out of this shutdown.’”
Enten said Trump’s approval ratings have remained stable because fewer Americans hold him responsible for the current government shutdown than during his first term. During the 2018–2019 shutdown, 61 percent of respondents blamed Trump for the impasse, compared with 48 percent now, according to Enten.
“Again, it’s no real wonder that Donald Trump, at this point, looking at the shutdown, says, ‘You know what? It’s not actually harming me politically,’ in large part, because he’s getting less of the blame,” Enten said.
It also needs to be noted that Congress is responsible for passing funding bills — not the president. So it’s unclear why he would ever get the blame.
Democrats have pledged to block any spending legislation that fails to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at year’s end, while Republicans have so far declined to negotiate a bipartisan agreement to end the shutdown.
With only slim majorities in Congress, Republicans would need support from several Senate Democrats to pass a short-term funding measure to reopen the government — meaning they, not Republicans, are now responsible for the ongoing shutdown.
With only slim majorities in Congress, Republicans would need support from several Senate Democrats to pass a short-term funding measure to reopen the government — meaning they, not Republicans, are now responsible for the ongoing shutdown.
