In March 2019, Neomi Rao was sworn in to Brett Kavanaugh's former seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She gained criticism for past comments blaming rape survivors for their assaults , such as, "A man who rapes a drunk girl should be prosecuted. At the same time, a good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay reasonably sober... And if she drinks to the point where she can no longer choose, well, getting to that point was part of her choice."