The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a lifetime appointment of President Trump's Alabama federal judge nominee along party lines on Thursday despite the fact that 36-year-old Brett J. Talley has never tried a case in his life and has only practiced law for three years, the Los Angeles Times reports. While Talley has degrees from the University of Alabama and Harvard Law School and runs a blog, the American Bar Association deemed him "not qualified" for the job. Additionally, Talley has "displayed a degree of partisanship unusual for a judicial nominee, denouncing 'Hillary Rotten Clinton' and pledging support for the National Rifle Association," the Times reports.
President Trump has nominated 59 people to federal courts since taking office, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. At the same point in former President Barack Obama's first term, he'd nominated 27 federal judges and one Supreme Court justice. Liberal critics have pointed to nominations like Talley in alarm: "So far, no one from [Trump's] party has been willing to stand up against him on the agenda of packing the courts," the vice president of People for the American Way, Marge Baker, told the Los Angeles Times.
Trump has directly praised Talley as being an "untold story" that "nobody wants to talk about."
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.
"When you think of it, Mitch [McConnell] and I were saying, that has consequences 40 years out, depending on the age of the judge," Trump said in October. "But 40 years out."
-
Fly like you know what you're doing with these 5 tips for healthy air travelThe Week Recommends Yes to stretching. Even more yesses to hydration.
-
September 9 editorial cartoonsCartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein, Russia's answer to peace talks, and tougher citizenship questions
-
Murdoch's conservative son wins succession battleSpeed Read Lachlan Murdoch will get control over the media empire that includes Fox News and The Wall Street Journal following his father's death, while his siblings will receive payouts
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
