It’s hard to be a judge
On Tuesday evening, Jabari Wamble left purgatory.
He had been waiting to receive Senate confirmation on a lifetime appointment to the federal judiciary since August.
The son-in-law of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, Wamble was appointed by President Joe Biden first to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
It would have been a big jump for Wamble to go from his current job as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas to the Circuit Court, but his nomination was historic — he would have been the first person of color from Kansas to serve on the 10th Circuit.
Kansas’ two Republican senators appeared on board with Wamble’s nomination, but the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary never offered a rating and his nomination was never heard in the Judiciary Committee.
When it came time for Biden to renominate judges who were still waiting for a hearing in 2023, Wamble wasn’t on his list.
Instead, Biden nominated Wamble to serve as a district judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. The move would make more sense for an assistant U.S. Attorney and Wamble was expected to make it through this time.
But once again, the American Bar Association didn’t issue a rating. Wamble sat, waiting for a hearing until Tuesday, when he withdrew his name from consideration.
He was the second Biden nominee to withdraw in a month. A nominee for a Boston-based position on the 1st Circuit Court, Michael Delaney, backed out of his nomination earlier this month.
The judiciary has increasingly become a focus for Republicans and Democrats as they try to reshape the courts with officials who share their worldviews.
The Trump administration, pushed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, pushed through a record 231 judicial confirmations. That included three justices on the U.S. Supreme Court that fundamentally changed the ideological balance of power on the nation’s highest court.
Biden confirmed more judges than Trump in his first two years in office, according to analysis by the Brookings Institution, but his pace has slowed.
Wamble was a nominee for a conservative state, and its two conservative senators weren’t standing in the way of his nomination. Being able to find another nominee to fit the mold will likely take even longer.
More from Missouri
A bipartisan pair of Christian lawmakers in Missouri Senate have long been pushing for a bill that would allow public schools to offer elective courses on the Bible. After passing the Missouri House with just more than an hour left in the session and little debate, the bill now sits on the desk of Gov. Mike Parson. If Parson signs it, some critics worry it will run afoul of the U.S. Constitution, jeopardizing federal funding for Missouri schools.
Here are headlines from across the state:
Missouri bill on Parson’s desk would allow public schools to teach electives on the Bible, Kacen Bayless
AG calls on KC police to enforce trans care ban that chief says outside jurisdiction, Kacen Bayless
Kansas City Royals float sports betting ballot question after legislature’s inaction, Kacen Bayless
Catholics descend on Missouri abbey to see body of nun who is ‘part of history’, Alyse Pfeil
What we know about MO man who allegedly crashed U-Haul truck near White House, Robert A. Cronkleton
And across Kansas
Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden has spent years claiming there was widespread voting fraud in Johnson County and that the prosecutor was too weak to pursue it. But he has sent prosecutors just one case alleging an election crime — a voter intimidation case that occurred a few days before early voting opened for the August 2022 primary.
Sheriff Hayden has sent Johnson County prosecutors one election case. It isn’t about fraud, Katie Bernard
GOP pushes food assistance work rules for debt deal. What happened when Kansas passed its own?, Jonathan Shorman and Katie Bernard
GOP chair asks predecessor to avoid him: ‘My wife feels very uncomfortable’, Katie Bernard
Jabari Wamble, Cleaver’s son-in-law, withdraws as nominee for federal judge in Kansas, Daniel Desrochers
Kobach, Bailey threaten legal action if Biden uses 14th Amendment to avoid default, Kacen Bayless
The latest from Kansas City
In Kansas City …
Debt default would harm Kansas City federal workers, retirees, Jonathan Shorman and Daniel Desrochers
KC firefighter, nearly killed at Missouri train crash, saves choking baseball fan, Eric Adler
‘Please, somebody say something’: Family of KC murder victim begs for help solving case, Robert A. Cronkleton
Have a news tip? Send it along to ddesrochers@kcstar.com
Odds and ends
Vibe shift
Last week, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, said he was confident there would be a deal on the debt limit and the country would avoid default. A week later, House members left the Capitol for the holiday weekend on Thursday afternoon. There still was no deal.
“I feel the celebratory mood that almost experienced last week is now just a mood,” Cleaver said.
Top House Republicans continued negotiating with the Biden administration on Thursday and lawmakers have indicated they are getting closer to a deal.
But the same day, 35 of the more hard-right conservative members of the Republican caucus, including Rep. Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican, put out a letter urging Republican leaders to push for an even more conservative deal, even though the already-passed House bill doesn’t have the support necessary to pass the U.S. Senate.
Current polling shows that Americans are divided on who they would blame — House Republicans or President Joe Biden — if the country defaults. That puts Biden on weaker footing than previous presidents. When President Barack Obama negotiated over the debt ceiling in 2011, polling showed that a majority of voters would blame the Republicans, not Obama, for not getting a deal done.
Cleaver expressed disillusionment with the process, given the stakes — if the U.S. defaults on it’s debt, it could plunge the country into a recession and jeopardize the retirement savings of millions of Americans.
“There’s something sinister about who can convince the public that their said is right instead of ‘let’s, let’s do the right thing for the country and the world,’ Cleaver said.
Mark Alford saves a.m. radio
Freshman Rep. Mark Alford, a Missouri Republican, took credit for saving AM radio this week.
As car manufacturers have embraced newer technology, they’ve dropped some of the old features like cassette players, CD players and, now, perhaps AM radios.
Last week, Alford made a speech on the House floor saying he grew up listening to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and Rush Limbaugh and said he was concerned that some car manufacturers were talking about taking out a.m. radio from their new vehicles.
“I love AM radio,” Alford said, pointing out that a.m. radio provides an important news source for many who listen to conservative talk radio.
This week, Ford announced it would keep AM radio in all its 2024 cars and would put AM radio in its existing 2023 electric vehicles.
“It is a start, yes, but there is more work to be done,” Alford said. “I am calling on all the other auto manufacturers to follow Ford’s lead and preserve the presence of AM radio in their vehicles.”
(This reporter also grew up listening to AM radio in the car, specifically 610 WIP in the Philadelphia area. Too this day, there’s nothing better than hearing a baseball game called on the radio).
Ribbon cutting
Kansas lawmakers past and present headed out to Manhattan this week to attend the ribbon cutting of the $1.25 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, a project pushed through Congress by former Sen. Pat Roberts in 2009.
Scientists will work on important research on preventing foreign animal diseases at the site, like the creation of vaccines.
The lab was originally supposed to open in 2016, but was delayed after officials worried about putting a bio lab in an area where there’s a risk of deadly tornadoes.
The ribbon cutting comes eight years after Roberts and other officials participated in the groundbreaking ceremony in 2015. There’ll still be time for more ribbon cuttings though. People aren’t expected to start working at the site until 2024.
Happy Friday
Here’s an article about how tree planting initiatives are often just for public relations. I learned recently that there’s a dessert called Affogato. I saw the Flaming Lips last night.
Enjoy your weekend.
Looking for more?
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This story was originally published May 25, 2023 at 6:07 PM.
