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Showing Original Post only (View all)Bondi Eliminates ABA's Role in Vetting Trump Judicial Picks [View all]
Source: Bloomberg Law
The Justice Department wont allow the American Bar Association to vet President Donald Trumps picks for judicial appointments.
The Justice Departments Office of Legal Policy, which prepares judicial nominees, will no longer direct nominees to provide waivers allowing the ABA access to non-public information, including bar records, according to the Thursday letter. Nominees also wont respond to ABA questionnaires or sit for interviews with the ABAs Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.
Unfortunately, the ABA no longer functions as a fair arbiter of nominees qualifications, and its ratings invariably and demonstrably favor nominees put forth by Democratic administrations, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Thursday letter to ABA President William Bay.
The changes represent a further diminishment of the ABAs customary role in vetting judicial nominations, which had already shrank during several prior administrations. Trump, like George W. Bush before him, had cut off the ABAs ability to vet candidates before they were nominated, a practice Joe Biden continued.
The ABAs standing committee, which is independent from the larger organization, is a 15-member panel thats helped vet judicial nominees since the Eisenhower era. Its members, including the chairman, are appointed by the associations president to three-year terms. The ranks have included trial attorneys, law professors, and Big Law partners.
Lawyers under consideration are rated as not qualified, qualified, or well qualified.
Read more: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/bondi-eliminates-abas-role-in-vetting-trump-judicial-nominees
