I can't wait for Democrats to nominate some pot-smoking communists to the federal bench
Republicans don't care about vetting judges anymore. Democrats shouldn't either.
President Trump has so far faceplanted on every legislative initiative — and even tax reform is not going very well, due to Republicans' extremely weird insistence on raising some middle-class taxes instead of just blowing up the deficit like George W. Bush did.
But Trump has had one big success: nominating judges. He is getting his federal bench nominees — mostly nutty extreme-right people, some of whom are ludicrously unqualified — approved much faster than Barack Obama did early in his presidency.
If nothing else, it should be a political lesson for Democrats to not be so fussy about vetting when they next occupy the presidency. The point is to get your people in place, and a scandal or two is well worth enduring.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Last year, I predicted that if Trump won the presidency, the federal judiciary "would no doubt be stuffed full of reactionary 30-year-old phrenologists from Taki Mag." It turns out that, as usual, even my most ludicrous exaggerations were not nearly extreme enough.
The latest, most controversial nominee is Brett Talley, a 36-year-old guy who has never tried a case in his life, only practiced law for three years, and was unanimously rated as "not qualified" by the American Bar Association (for only the fourth time in its history). Naturally, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination in a party-line vote.
What's more, he is married to Ann Donaldson, chief of staff of Donald McGahn, the White House counsel who is helping oversee the judicial nomination process. Oddly, Talley did not disclose this massive conflict of interest in his filings. (Of course, everyone involved insists family connections had nothing to do with the nomination.)
Oh, and he's written a bunch of horror novels, worked as a "paranormal investigator," and as BuzzFeed News reports, apparently had an extensive history as an anonymous commenter on a University of Alabama sports fan forum. After the Sandy Hook shooting, a poster who had previously identified himself as Talley wrote: "My solution would be to stop being a society of pansies and man up."
Compare that to the glacial slowness of President Obama's nomination process. After Tom Daschle's nomination to run the Department of Health and Human Services was derailed in early 2009 due to discoveries that he owed $140,000 in back taxes over the use of a personal driver, the administration dramatically stepped up the vetting scrutiny, for all nominees. It took months to get the executive branch staffed up, and months longer to find nominees willing to undergo the exhaustive personal examination the administration demanded. Making matters worse, through 2012 Obama kept trying to nominate moderates who would not raise Republican ire, only to discover systematic obstruction of them anyway.
Things sped up a bit in 2013, when Senate Democrats finally got rid of the filibuster for judicial nominations (allowing them to be confirmed by a simple majority vote). But in 2015, when Republicans took over the Senate, confirmation all but stopped. Obama's "insane" vetting process for the Supreme Court seat left open by the death of Antonin Scalia was once again completely pointless, as Republicans refused to even hold a hearing on the nomination. They stole that seat so Trump could fill it.
Fight fire with fire, I always say. The next time Democrats win the presidency, they should stop being gormless chumps about bipartisanship, and simply ram through as many of their ideological co-partisans as possible. A scandal or two over some missed taxes (it's amazing how quaint Tom Daschle's minor ethical lapse looks today, in the age of a for-profit Trump presidency) is simply the price you might have to pay to get good people in as quickly as possible.
Of course, that doesn't mean nominating unqualified 30-something hacks who self-publish dinosaur porn on Amazon or whatever. But Democrats have little incentive to do that anyway. Republicans want people who will bleat about "constitutional originalism" while cooking up ultra-tendentious arguments that Social Security is forbidden by the Third Amendment. Democrats just need people who will generally support solidly constitutional lefty views on taxes, spending, and regulation (especially anti-trust). There are no shortage of such people with good qualifications.
So by all means, give their record a once-over and make sure they know the law. But don't waste month after month making sure they never smoked pot 40 years ago. The stakes are too high.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.
-
4 ways to give back this holiday season
The Explainer If your budget is feeling squeezed, remember that money is not the only way you can be generous around the holidays
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
4 tips for hosting an ecofriendly Thanksgiving
The Week Recommends Coming together for the holidays typically produces a ton of waste, but with proper preparation, you can have an environmentally friendly gathering.
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appeal
Speed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US election: who the billionaires are backing
The Explainer More have endorsed Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, but among the 'ultra-rich' the split is more even
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
1 of 6 'Trump Train' drivers liable in Biden bus blockade
Speed Read Only one of the accused was found liable in the case concerning the deliberate slowing of a 2020 Biden campaign bus
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published