The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed another of Donald Trump's controversial picks for a powerful federal judgeship, as the president leaves an increasingly prominent mark on the nation's courts.
Neomi Rao was confirmed on a party-line vote of 53-46 in the Senate, where Trump's Republicans hold the majority, despite her past writings that some critics have interpreted as blaming survivors of sexual assaults for being attacked.
At 45, Rao now becomes a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most powerful benches in the country, replacing Brett Kavanaugh who endured a bitter confirmation battle last year after Trump named him to the US Supreme Court.
During that hearing Kavanaugh faced allegations of sexual abuse dating back to his time high school.
In Rao's own hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she distanced herself from some of her early writings, saying she penned them during "a time of exploration."