We’ve now learned via Slate that the White House is withdrawing the nominations of both Brett Talley and Jeff Mateer.
By smothering both Talley and Mateer’s nominations, Senate Republicans reminded the White House that they will not humiliate themselves in their quest to pack the courts with conservatives. They may rubber-stamp most of Trump’s picks, but they draw the line at unqualified ideologues whose witlessness makes headlines.
Update–December 12, 2017 3:33pm: A senior Republican Senator is telling the White House something to the effect of “you folks don’t know what you’re doing.” Chuck Grassley said it more politely but he couldn’t have been clearer. The GOP Senator from Iowa exclusively told CNN that he is strongly urging the Trump Administration to “reconsider” one nominee to the Federal bench and “should not proceed” on the other. We’ve written about Jeff Mateer and Brett Talley before. Talley was nominated to be a judge despite the fact that he’s never tried a case in court!
Here are two of our previous posts on Jeff Mateer and Brett Talley:
You Be The Judge; Trump Quietly Stuffing Federal Bench– 11/24/17 11:25am
His legislative accomplishments wouldn’t fill a teacup but pay attention, dear friends, because Donald Trump is quietly remaking one branch of government. The federal judiciary is being stuffed with like minds of Donald Trump. We’ve brought you the story of Brett Talley, the GOP blogger who was nominated to the bench without so much as one day of trial experience.
Now comes Jeff Mateer, who according to Slate:
Jeff Mateer has called transgender children part of “Satan’s plan,” dismissed same-sex marriage as “debauchery,” and asserted that the constitutional separation of church and state is a myth.
But Talley and Mateer are just the beginning. Right-leaning lawyers are suddenly taking advantage of an opening, and The Federalist Society is example A. Before last year’s election, this group of prominent conservatives decried the possibility of a Trump presidency in a now infamous statement:
Trump’s long record of statements and conduct, in his campaign and in his business career, have shown him indifferent or hostile to the Constitution’s basic features—including a government of limited powers, an independent judiciary, religious liberty, freedom of speech, and due process of law.
One year later, with Trump floundering and the Congress suddenly in play in 2018, the Federalists are now demanding that the judiciary be expanded, quickly. Congress, they argue, should allocate more money for more courts. What they don’t say is those courts would be packed with conservative jurists for years to come as Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick so eloquently explains.
Wanted: Federal Judge, No Experience Required – 11/11/17 10:50am
Federal judgeships are lifetime appointments, which is a good thing for Brett Talley. He may need all that time to gain enough experience for the job. Donald Trump nominated the 36-year-old to the federal bench despite the fact that he has zero experience as a judge. In fact, he’s never tried a case in court! Ever! And, the House Judiciary Committee, voting along party lines, approved his nomination. So what qualifies Mr. Tally for the bench? We know he’s seriously conservative and he once called the former Secretary of State “Hillary Rotten Clinton” on his blog. Clever.
Just for some perspective, the average age for a newly appointed federal judge is about 50. The American Bar Association prefers a minimum of 12 years legal experience and has deemed Talley “not qualified” by it’s ratings committee. No Matter. Long after Donald Trump has gone to that gold-plated penthouse in the sky, Judge Talley will be with us. Here’s more from The Los Angeles Times.
