Senate confirms Trump judicial pick who was rated ‘not qualified’ by ABA
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Katie Lane to the District of Montana, despite the judicial nominee receiving a “not qualified” rating from the ABA. (Screenshot from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s March 25 judicial nomination hearings)
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Katie Lane to the District of Montana, despite the judicial nominee receiving a “not qualified” rating from the ABA.
Lane, a Republican National Committee lawyer and former Montana deputy solicitor general, was the first judicial nominee to be rated unqualified by the ABA in President Donald Trump’s second term, according to Bloomberg Law. Ten nominees received the same rating in Trump’s first term, and most of them were confirmed.
The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which assesses judicial candidates on professional competence, integrity and judicial temperament, noted in a letter to Senate leaders in April that Lane lacked the necessary experience for the bench.
Lane, a 2017 graduate of the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, did not have the 12 years of experience as an attorney that is typically standard for a federal trial court judgeship or substantial trial or courtroom experience to compensate for fewer years of practice, the committee said.
“Ms. Lane has never tried a case as lead counsel, whether civil or criminal,” the committee wrote in its letter.
Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana disagreed that Lane lacks experience, saying in floor remarks before the vote Tuesday that her “distinguished record of public service” and experience as a law clerk in federal courts “makes her well qualified to serve on the federal bench,” Bloomberg Law reports.
Lane was a clerk in the Eastern District of Tennessee and worked for Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Denver, Bloomberg Law also reports.
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