President Donald Trump nominated Charles Godwin, Holly Teeter, and Steven Grasz for judgeships even though they all received the rare distinction of either being rated unanimously “not qualified” or “not qualified” by a majority of judges on the standing committee of the American Bar Association.
Trump nominated Charles Godwin to serve as federal judge. The ABA rated Charles Godwin unqualified on questions of work ethic.
The U.S. Senate confirmed him.
President Trump nominated Holly Teeter to serve as a federal district court judge in Kansas.
Teeter’s nomination was delayed when a majority of the ABA’s standing committee rated her as unqualified because she had been practicing law for only 11.5 years, short of the association’s minimum of 12 years of experience to be considered qualified.
Trump later resubmitted her nomination. She was easily confirmed by the Senate.
President Trump named J. Steven Grasz to be a circuit judge in the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The American Bar Association rated him unanimously unqualified after a review discovered problems with his temperament and his bias.
The Republicans, who were in the majority of the Senate Judicial Committee, disagreed with the ABA’s rating and voted to confirm him. He was then confirmed by the rest of the U.S. Senate. He now serves as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
