RE: What was the basis for the UQ by ABA

Posted on: December 11, 2018 at 14:35:20 CT

The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary gave Kobes a “Not Qualified” rating, the sixth such rating for President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.

Kobes has “neither the requisite experience nor evidence of his ability to fulfill the scholarly writing required” of a federal appellate judge, a letter from committee chair Paul Moxley said.

The ABA’s ratings are advisory, and have been used for decades as a non-partisan rating system for judicial nominees. The ratings have come under fire from conservatives for being partisan, but Republicans called two ABA officials to testify at U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing about his “well-qualified” rating, the highest rating available.

Kobes is the second of Trump’s nominees to the Eighth Circuit to receive such a “Not Qualified” rating. The first, Steve Grasz, was confirmed by a 50-48 vote.

Four of Trump’s district court nominees have also been rated “Not Qualified.” Two of them have been confirmed, one was withdrawn, and one is pending.

None of President Barack Obama’s nominees received a “Not Qualified” rating, but his administration worked with the ABA to pre-screen candidates before announcing their nominations. The Trump Administration opted out of this pre-screen process, as did President George W. Bush’s administration, which also saw some nominees rated “Not Qualified.”

Kobes, who is currently general counsel to Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), came under scrutiny at his confirmation hearing for comments about immigration, which were attributed to him by a Dutch newspaper.

The paper quoted Kobes as saying that Republicans oppose immigration because it waters down the culture.

Kobes testified that he believed such a perspective on immigration was unfair, and that it didn’t reflect his personal position.

Edited by MrBlueSky at 14:35:52 on 12/11/18