Among the Democratic Socialists of America’s many extreme proposals — even liberal comedian Jon Stewart calls them “crazy ideas” — is subordinating the courts to Congress, thus eliminating the indispensable independent judiciary.

Founding Father John Rutledge put it simply: “So long as we may have an independent Judiciary, the great interests of the people will be safe.”

But an independent judiciary is only as good as its judges. Socrates identified four essential responsibilities of a good judge: “to hear courteously; to answer wisely; to consider soberly; and to decide impartially.”

Thousands of years later, those traits are epitomized by Colorado-based U.S. District Court Chief Judge Daniel Domenico, President Trump’s appointee to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on Domenico’s nomination Thursday. Democrats used their power under committee rules to hold over Todd Blanche, Trump’s acting attorney general and his nominee to keep the job — a fight they clearly wanted.

Committee Democrats had the same option for Domenico. They didn’t use it.

The panel met off the Senate floor in secret, according to Carl Tobias, Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. Domenico received a 12-10 party-line vote. “It remains unclear whether there was any discussion of his candidacy,” Tobias told me.

Domenico now heads to the Senate floor, where he could be confirmed before the Aug. 6 summer break — largely along party lines, Tobias expects.

Home-state Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have pledged to vote against him, but neither has made much of it.

Reflexive resistance to Trump’s nominees is virtually an obligation among Democrats. Yet against Domenico, Judiciary Democrats barely bothered. They reserved procedural ammunition for Blanche and advanced Domenico’s nomination to the full Senate without a public word.

Add that to the list of signs he’s the kind of judge we should be seeking.

During his testimony last month, only five senators questioned him at all — two Democrats, three Republicans. The hearing lasted only 45 minutes.

Domenico “didn’t miss a beat,” Tobias said, describing him as “very restrained, thoughtful and not rushing to judgment” and always ready to explain his answers.

In a substantive exchange with Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on the Fifth Amendment, Durbin asked whether Domenico believes the word “person” applies only to citizens. Domenico noted the issue remains an open question.

“But it doesn’t say citizens,” Durbin pressed. “Do you concede that point?”

“I do,” Domenico said plainly, exemplifying a jurist who will give ground rather than evade. The senator moved on.

Durbin challenged Domenico over his immigration decisions, pointing to nearly 14,000 district court rulings nationwide against the administration’s detention policies.

“You, however, are an outlier,” Durbin said, a fact he noted Domenico himself has acknowledged.

Indeed, Domenico is the only judge on Colorado’s federal district bench to uphold the administration’s reading of its authority to detain illegal immigrants during removal proceedings.

But here’s the thing: An outlier who tries to hide that fact is a problem. One who acknowledges his split and explains his reasoning is simply doing his job.

Domenico gave Durbin the same answer he’d laid out in written opinions: there’s a “clear division of opinion” over the statutory question, and he’d “in fact ruled against the federal government’s position and granted petitions a number of times.”

Tobias summarized the judge’s thinking: “Here’s my best sense of the law in this area — which is contested, and critical to what’s going on in the federal courts nationwide.”

“The fact that district courts have reached inconsistent outcomes in these cases is unfortunate,” Domenico wrote in one decision favoring the administration. But a judge, he added, is “duty-bound” to follow his “best understanding of the law.”

Two federal appeals courts — the Fifth and the Eighth Circuits — had read the law the same way. Domenico was alone on his own bench, but he was in good company.

“People respect a judge who is careful and provides his best ruling, or best sense of the law in that area, even if it’s in the minority,” Tobias said.

Domenico showed the same discipline last year when Denver Public Schools sought a nationwide injunction against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement near schools. DPS couldn’t show how the policy substantively differed from the Biden-era guidance it cited, Domenico found.

An injunction wasn’t justified, he concluded nor was it the remedy.

“I know everybody’s switched sides on nationwide injunctions in the last few weeks, but I’m trying to be consistent,” said Domenico. Months later, the U.S. Supreme Court sharply curtailed universal injunctions. Tobias called him “ahead of the game.”

If confirmed, Domenico will replace Chief Judge Tim Tymkovich, for whom he once clerked before succeeding Tymkovich on Colorado’s federal district court.

Domenico previously served nine years as Colorado’s solicitor general under three governors of both parties: Republican Bill Owens and Democrats Bill Ritter and John Hickenlooper — who kept him in the job and will soon vote on his confirmation.

Hearing courteously. Answering wisely. Considering soberly. Deciding impartially. With Judge Domenico, it’s four for four.

The 10th Circuit is waiting.

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.