Trump judicial nominee withdraws amid Republican opposition: report

Michael Bogren, whom President Trump nominated to the district court for the Western District of Michigan, will withdraw his name from consideration, three sources familiar with the matter told Politico.

Bogren faced an unexpected level of opposition from Republican senators, including Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.), all of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also was criticized by a slew of conservative advocacy groups including the Judicial Crisis Network, Heritage Action for America and Conservative Action Project.

{mosads}The withdrawal is a setback for the administration, which has put a premium on pushing its judicial nominees through the Senate.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

The source of Republicans’ concerns over Bogren was a brief he signed off on while defending the City of East Lansing against a Catholic couple who opposed same-sex marriage. The couple sued the city after they were barred from a farmers market after they refused to a host a same-sex marriage on their farm.

The city’s brief defended its position in part by comparing the situation to the Knights of the White Camelia, the Ku Klux Klan and imams who oppose giving women the right to drive. The analogies offended several Republicans.

Bogren is a managing partner at Plunkett Cooney.