On Thursday, the Senate will vote on cloture, and if that vote succeeds, on the confirmation of Justin Walker to a lifetime seat on the federal judiciary in Kentucky. The American Bar Association has rated him "not qualified" to serve, but Moscow Mitch McConnell will make sure he does.
Walker, in the mold of many of Trump's nominees, is young and woefully inexperienced. He's just 37, a law professor at the University of Louisville who rose to notice by the Federalist Society and McConnell by virtue of his vociferous support for Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Walker clerked for Kavanaugh, and said that his "courageous and influential opinions on countless different issues—presidential power, regulatory overreach, religious liberty, the Second Amendment, and the list goes on—leave no doubt that he would be a forceful conservative justice for decades to come." Which tells you pretty much all you need to know about why he earned his own nomination and how he'll rule.
The ABA's rating isn't based on his partisanship, because it doesn't look at that. It looks at qualifications, and determines that a minimum of 12 years’ experience in the practice of law is required for a district court nominee. Walker left law school less than 12 years ago and has almost no courtroom experience. "[H]is legal practice to date does not compensate for the short time the nominee has practiced law and/or his lack of substantial courtroom experience," the ABA advised the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Lindsey Graham's committee, however, totally ignored that.
That might be because he's McConnell's pet. The day after the ABA released its rating, McConnell introduced Walker at his hearing, calling him "a brilliant Kentuckian" and a "wise choice" for Trump. "This is unquestionably the most outstanding nomination that I’ve ever recommended to Presidents to serve on the bench in Kentucky," he said in his role as chief troll of the ABA and the nation.
McConnell is a one-man wrecking ball for the future of pretty much everything under the purview of the federal courts. Which is pretty much everything, from civil rights to climate change. His power has to be taken away for the country to be able to salvage any future.
Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end McConnell's career as majority leader.