WASHINGTON â Itâs hard to keep up with all of President Donald Trumpâs questionable nominees for lifetime federal judgeships.
There was Brett Talley, a 36-year-old lawyer and former paranormal activity investigator who tweeted about Hillary Clinton being ârottenâ and said his solution to the Sandy Hook shooting massacre âwould be to stop being a society of pansies and man up.â Matthew Petersen, also a 36-year-old lawyer, couldnât answer basic questions about law in his confirmation hearing and was basically shamed into withdrawing. Jeff Mateer, a 52-year-old lawyer who described transgender children as evidence of âSatanâs planâ and endorsed gay conversion therapy, was eventually withdrawn too.
None of those nominees made it through the Senate confirmation process. But a growing number of Trumpâs court picks are slipping through despite earning a rare and embarrassing ânot qualifiedâ rating by the nonpartisan American Bar Association. And Republicans are ready to confirm even more of them.
This week alone, two of Trumpâs court picks who earned the abysmal ABA rating â Sarah Pitlyk and Lawrence VanDyke â inched forward. Pitlyk, a 42-year-old lawyer who previously clerked for then-D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday on a party-line vote. VanDyke, a 46-year-old lawyer who is the former solicitor general of both Nevada and Montana, got his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
âMr. VanDykeâs accomplishments are offset by the assessments of interviewees that Mr. VanDyke is arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice including procedural rules,â reads the brutal ABA review of VanDyke. âThere was a theme that the nominee lacks humility, has an âentitlementâ temperament, does not have an open mind, and does not always have a commitment to being candid and truthful.â
The ABA, which has reviewed each of a presidentâs judicial nominees for decades, interviewed 60 people in its assessment of VanDyke â including 43 lawyers and 16 judges. It found that VanDykeâs colleagues âwould not say affirmatively that he would be fair to any litigant before him, notably members of the LGBTQ community.â
This detail made VanDyke, Trumpâs pick for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, cry during his hearing.
âI do not believe that,â he told lawmakers. âIt is a fundamental belief of mine that all people are created in the image of God and they should all be treated with dignity and respect.â
Pitlyk, meanwhile, earned the even more rare distinction of a unanimous ânot qualifiedâ ABA rating due to her âvery substantial gapâ in trial or litigation experience. She is Trumpâs choice for a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
âMs. Pitlyk has never tried a case as lead or co-counsel, whether civil or criminal. She has never examined a witness,â reads her ABA review. âThough Ms. Pitlyk has argued one case in a court of appeals, she has not taken a deposition. She has not argued any motion in a state or federal trial court. She has never picked a jury. She has never participated at any stage of a criminal matter.â
Thereâs no reason to think that Pitlyk and VanDyke wonât both be confirmed. Not a single Republican has raised concerns with their records or any of Trumpâs previous judicial nominees deemed unfit by the nationâs top lawyersâ group.
Just last week, the Senate voted to confirm Justin Walker, 37, to a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. This was despite the ABA concluding that Walker is unqualified because he âdoes not presently have the requisite trial or litigation experienceâ to be a federal judge.
âMr. Walkerâs experience to date has a very substantial gap, namely the absence of any significant trial experience,â the ABA said in its July review. âMr. Walker has never tried a case as lead or co-counsel, whether civil or criminal. ... In addition, based on review of his biographical information and conversations with Mr. Walker, it was challenging to determine how much of his ten years since graduation from law school has been spent in the practice of law.â
Despite all that, Walker sailed through without a single Republican voting no. Every Democrat present voted no.
In total, Senate Republicans have confirmed five of Trumpâs court picks who earned a ânot qualifiedâ rating from the ABA. If Pitlyk and VanDyke are confirmed, they will be numbers six and seven.
Others include U.S. Circuit Judge Leonard Steven Grasz, who the ABA concluded was âunable to separate his role as an advocate from that of a judge,â given his strong anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion views; U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin, who the ABA said lacked the ability to fulfill the demands of a federal judgeship given his frequent absence from the courthouse in his former role as a magistrate judge; and U.S. Circuit Judge Jonathan Kobes, who the ABA found âwas unable to provide sufficient writing samples of the caliber requiredâ of a circuit judge.
For context, in his entire eight years in the White House, President Barack Obama didnât nominate anyone to be a lifetime federal judge who earned a ânot qualifiedâ ABA rating.