GOP Sen. Tim Scott blocks Trump judicial nominee who backed restrictive voting laws

Yet another of President Trump's judicial nominees has spent the last week taking the controversy test. But this time, he failed to pass.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chamber's only black Republican, said Thursday he'd vote against the nomination of Thomas Farr to become a North Carolina federal judge. Scott joins Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to defeat the nomination of Farr, who's been accused of defending a law that slashed minority voters' rights.

As a North Carolina attorney, Farr defended what a court eventually ruled was "the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow," per The Washington Post. That led all 49 Democrats and Flake to vote against moving his nomination forward on Wednesday, prompting Vice President Mike Pence to break a tie and advance Farr's case.

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Still, three Republicans who'd initially voted for Farr — Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), and Scott — were still considering ultimately voting against him. Scott became the first to affirm he'd block the controversial nominee with a Thursday statement.

Flake, meanwhile, has said he'd vote against every judicial nominee in a protest against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) refusal to call a vote on a bill protecting Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He did say Thursday he'd vote against Farr regardless of the Mueller bill.