A federal court nominee who could not answer basic legal questions at a Senate hearing last week has withdrawn from consideration, the third such casualty for President Trump in the past week.
Matthew Petersen, a member of the Federal Election Commission nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, had told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had no trial experience and little background in handling motions or depositions.
Under questioning from a Republican senator, he failed to answer basic questions about the rules of evidence and civil procedure. A five-minute video of his encounter with Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana quickly went viral.
Petersen's demise follows those of fellow district court nominees Brett Talley of Alabama and Jeff Mateer of Texas. Talley had received a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association, which reviews all nominees, and failed to inform the Senate that his wife worked in the White House counsel's office. Mateer had a history of controversial statements, such as describing transgender children as evidence of "Satan's plan."
"This is a clear signal that the White House isn’t properly vetting nominees but instead counting on Senate Republicans to jam them through with minimal review," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the judiciary panel.
In his letter of withdrawal, obtained from the administration, Petersen said, "I had hoped that my nearly two decades of public service might carry more weight than my two worst minutes on television. However, I am no stranger to political realities."
Liberal groups that have opposed most of Trump's judicial nominees applauded their latest victory.
"Petersen was among many unfit judicial nominees put forward by this administration," said Daniel Goldberg, legal director for the liberal Alliance for Justice. "It took the nomination of some egregiously under-qualified people to make Senate Republicans begin to push back."
"His defeat, along with the defeat of Brett Talley and Jeff Mateer last week, is an example of what can happen when Americans stand up and say enough is enough," said Marge Baker, vice president of the liberal group People for the American Way. "And there are still lots of other nominees in the pipeline who deserve the same intense scrutiny that made those nominees’ flaws glaringly apparent.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella organization of more than 200 groups, called on Trump to pull two other nominees: Thomas Farr, nominated for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and Damien Schiff, nominated for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Until now, Trump had been startlingly successful in his quest to fill the federal courts with conservative judges. Starting with his nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in January, the president has chosen deeply conservative, often outspoken judges, lawyers, professors and bloggers to fill seats that Republicans left vacant under Barack Obama.
The Senate has confirmed 20 judges starting with Gorsuch, including 12 to powerful appeals courts that are the last stop before the Supreme Court — more than any president has achieved in his first year in office. Their average age of 50 means they are likely to serve for decades in the lifetime posts.
