Judiciary
Trump judicial pick, rated unqualified by the ABA, advances in Senate
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved Kathleen “Katie” Lane’s nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, sending it to the full U.S. Senate by a vote along party lines. Lane received an unqualified rating for the position from the ABA over her limited legal experience. (Screenshot from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s March 25 judicial nomination hearings)
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved Kathleen “Katie” Lane’s nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, sending it to the full U.S. Senate by a vote along party lines. Lane received an unqualified rating for the position from the ABA over her limited legal experience.
Lane is the Republican National Committee lawyer and a former Montana deputy solicitor general. She was the first judicial nominee in President Donald Trump’s second term to receive a “not qualified” rating, according to a story by Bloomberg Law.
Before the vote, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Lane was a “great nominee” and uniquely qualified to serve in Montana based on her experience with land use, grazing rights, mining and rural issues, according to Bloomberg Law.
“I hope she wears her ABA rating as a badge of honor based on the history of stellar judges who received poor ABA ratings,” Grassley said.
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