One of President Joe Biden‘s judicial picks appears to be in serious trouble.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said Thursday that he thinks federal appellate court nominee Adeel Mangi has zero chances of confirmation in the Senate after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) backed out of supporting the Biden administration‘s pick, marking the second Democrat to do so this week.

“I believe that the nomination is dead. It’s as dead as Jimmy Hoffa,” Kennedy told the Washington Examiner shortly after Manchin said he would oppose Mangi’s nomination, a move that could dash Biden’s hopes of confirming the first Muslim American to a federal appellate court.

“I don’t think he has any bipartisan support,” Manchin told reporters of Mangi’s confirmation prospects one day after he announced he would oppose any of Biden’s nominees that Senate Republicans are universally voting against, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The Washington Examiner caught up with Manchin later Thursday afternoon, where he reiterated his commitment to the filibuster, adding, “I am not any way shape or form as long as I’m still here going to be able and do that and vote for a lifetime appointment when you can’t even get one Republican because they don’t even ask them.”

Manchin’s decision spells trouble for Mangi’s prospects after Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) said in a statement on Tuesday that she “cannot support this nominee.” No Republicans have yet signaled they intend to support Mangi’s confirmation; given the Democrats’ thin 51-49 majority and the opposition of Manchin and Cortez Masto, Mangi will now need some level of GOP support to get confirmed.

Mangi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit has become a point of contention on Capitol Hill following revelations that Mangi co-mingled at academic events and conferences with people who have openly sympathized with Palestinian terrorists.

The nominee also serves as an advisory board member of the Alliance of Families for Justice. Kathy Boudin, one of AFJ’s founding board members, pleaded guilty to felony murder for her role in a Brink’s armored truck robbery that resulted in the death of two police officers in 1981. Cortez Masto cited Mangi’s affiliation with that group when announcing her decision not to back Biden’s appellate court pick.

The Washington Examiner reported earlier this month about Mangi’s participation in the 2022 conference for the National Association of Muslim Lawyers alongside a Rutgers University director. One of the panelists was Lena Masri, litigation director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which federal prosecutors named an “unindicted co-conspirator” of Hamas in a 2009 terrorism financing case.

Days after that story, Mangi sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee to apologize for not disclosing his participation in the conference, the Washington Examiner reported.

Republicans have also highlighted letters from law enforcement organizations elevating concerns about Mangi, in addition to revealing his prior membership on a controversial advisory board at Rutgers. During a Dec. 13 confirmation hearing, Mangi said he only advised the school’s Center for Security, Race and Rights on academic research issues and said he wasn’t involved in nor aware of the fact that the center held a controversial commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in 2021 that featured terrorist sympathizers.

The conservative judicial activist group Judicial Crisis Network announced Thursday it is launching a new ad campaign against Mangi, highlighting his ties to groups that attempted to “defund the police and free convicted cop-killers from prison,” according to the organization’s president, Carrie Severino.

“Individuals like Adeel Mangi who have ties to antisemitic and anti-police groups don’t belong on the federal bench,” Severino told the Washington Examiner. “Mangi would be bad news for the rule of law in this country, and it sounds like some Senate Democrats recognize that.”

Earlier in the day, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Republicans “will continue to oppose the nominee who has repeatedly chosen instead to mingle with supporters of terrorists and cop killers.” McConnell suggested Biden should fill the appellate vacancy with Zahid Quraishi, who was appointed to the District of New Jersey in 2021 by an 81-16 confirmation vote, making him the first Muslim life-tenured federal judge.

Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Thursday highlighted Mangi’s support by the Anti-Defamation League, which called public scrutiny of the nominee “inappropriate and prejudicial” in a Jan. 9 statement, characterizing it as blatant Islamophobia.

“To accuse a nominee of being anti-Semitic is heartbreaking when it’s not true, and in this case it clearly is not true,” Durbin said. 

The White House has similarly defended Mangi by claiming the nominee has come under fire by “hateful forces,” according to spokesman Andrew Bates.

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Meanwhile, Republicans ramped up opposition against another Biden nominee to the 6th Circuit on Wednesday. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said the White House had abandoned its tradition of consulting home state senators about judicial nominees when Biden nominated Kevin Ritz, who has served as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee since 2022, to the 6th Circuit.

The Washington Examiner contacted the White House for comment on the growing Democratic opposition to the appellate nominee.