GOP senator says he’ll vote against Trump judicial nominee

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Tuesday that he will vote against one of President Trump’s most controversial judicial nominees.

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According to Politico, Kennedy, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will not vote to confirm Brett Talley, a 36-year-old deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department who has never tried a case.

Kennedy told Politico that he would vote against Talley “in a heartbeat.” Talley’s nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month in a party-line vote. 

News: @SenJohnKennedy says he’ll vote against judicial nom Brett Talley, rated unqualified by ABA who didn’t disclose his wife works at White House

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) November 28, 2017

Kennedy tells me he would vote against Talley “in a heartbeat. Twice, if I can.”

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) November 28, 2017

Talley’s nomination has been the subject of some controversy. He received a rare “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association, and he has come under scrutiny for failing to disclose that his wife, Ann Donaldson, serves as chief of staff to White House Counsel Don McGahn.

Trump nominated Talley earlier this year to a lifetime appointment to a federal judgeship in the Middle District of Alabama. Since taking office, Trump has moved to reshape the federal judiciary, appointing the most judges to appellate courts in the first 10 months of his presidency since Richard Nixon.

Kennedy’s announcement that he will not support Talley’s confirmation came the same day the Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Greg Katsas, who previously served as Trump’s deputy counsel, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.