Four recent judicial nominees from President Donald Trump have received “not qualified” ratings from the American Bar Association, most notably Brett Talley, a 36-year-old lawyer who has never tried a case. In response a post on MSNBC’s website claimed that neither Barack Obama nor Bill Clinton submitted judicial nominees who had received a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association.
“In the Obama era, for example, literally none of the Democratic president’s nominees received a ‘not qualified’ rating. The same is true of Bill Clinton’s nominees,” Steve Benen, a producer for the Rachel Maddow Show, wrote on The Maddow Blog.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary was established in 1953 when President Dwight Eisenhower requested the ABA weigh in on judicial candidates. The ABA’s judicial ratings do not prevent a candidate from being nominated but act as a recommendation for the White House administration.
Did Barack Obama and Bill Clinton not nominate judicial candidates who were given a ‘not qualified’ rating from the ABA?
According to the ABA Journal: “When the White House participates in the pre-nomination process, the president can choose not to officially nominate that candidate before a ‘not qualified’ rating can go public. President Bill Clinton chose to advance four nominees who received such a rating, three of whom were confirmed by the Senate.”
The ABA Journal also noted a New York Times report in 2011, which found that “the ABA gave a ‘not qualified’ rating to 14 of about 185 potential candidates the Obama administration asked the ABA to evaluate.”
Barack Obama did not nominate any of candidates who received a “not qualified” rating from the ABA, but it is incorrect to state the same about Bill Clinton.
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