Washington, D.C. — Today the American Bar Association (ABA) issued a unanimous “Not Qualified” rating to Brett Talley, a nominee to the federal bench in Alabama. In response, Michele Jawando, vice president for Legal Progress at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
This is the fourth time that one of President Trump’s judicial picks has received a “Not Qualified” rating. And he’s the second Trump nominee to earn such a rating unanimously. Trump has doubled the number of unanimously unqualified nominees since the ABA began its rating system. Before Trump, the two nominees who received such a rating were withdrawn. The Senate should be deeply concerned that Trump is trying to fill the bench with nominees such as Talley and 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Steven Grasz, who were both unanimously deemed unfit to judge based on the ABA’s objective assessment. Lawmakers should reject all nominees who are rated unanimously “Not Qualified.”
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