Perdue Votes for Another Dangerous, “Not Qualified” Judicial Nominee for Lifetime Appointment

Perdue’s record in Washington includes unwavering support for reckless and unqualified judges with out-of-touch views who are opposed even by members of his own party

ATLANTA — Today, Senator David Perdue continued his streak of voting for another “not qualified” nominee for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench pushed through by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — his seventh vote for a nominee rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association. 

Perdue’s support today for the latest nominee, Lawrence VanDyke, comes despite VanDyke’s out-of-touch views and insufficient qualifications. The ABA’s “not qualified” rating found him “an ideologue,” “lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice” and potentially unable to treat LGBTQ litigants fairly.

A reminder of the other “not qualified” judicial nominations Perdue has already rubber-stamped for McConnell:

• Sarah Pitlyk not only stood in lock-step with Republicans’ assault on the health care law and protections for pre-existing conditions — which she has derided as “unprincipled” — but has a record on reproductive freedom so extreme that she opposes basic treatments such as in-vitro fertilization or surrogacy, bizarrely claiming they have “grave effects on society.” 

• Justin Walker lacked any significant trial experience and had never tried a case himself — not to mention his strong hostility to the health care law and its protections for pre-existing conditions, calling the decision to uphold the law “catastrophic.”

• Jonathan Kobes was found by the ABA to lack the necessary writing abilities to serve on the federal bench, along with a record of overlooking hostility to LGBTQ rights as part of his work with conservative social causes.

• Charles Goodwin’s work ethic in court was so poor that the ABA found him “not qualified” as a result of his numerous absences from the courtroom where he would disappear until the afternoon — while still being funded by the taxpayers’ dime.

• Holly Lou Teeter lacked the necessary amount of legal experience needed to even be considered “qualified” by ABA standards, coming up short in the length of time she had been practicing law.

• Steven Grasz earned a “unanimously not qualified” rating from the ABA as a result of his radical and out-of-touch social agenda which included extensive work fighting against LGBTQ equality and efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Perdue still hasn’t voted against a single judicial nominee under McConnell’s and Trump’s leadership, including the previous six who were rated “not qualified” by the ABA. Instead of being an independent voice for Georgia on confirming nominees, Perdue continues to rubber-stamp unqualified and unvetted partisans to lifetime appointments in our federal courts.

“Lawrence VanDyke’s out-of-touch views and temperament might make him the latest reckless judicial nominee that Senator David Perdue has voted to approve, but he isn’t the first — or likely the last,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Senator Perdue’s record on the important role of confirming judges shows just how much of a rubber stamp he is for Washington Republicans’ reckless agenda.”

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