These Trump nominees couldn't get confirmed by the GOP Senate, but they're still in government
By James Hohmann January 11 at 8:07 AM
THE BIG IDEA: The Trump administration withdrew Sam Clovis’s nomination to be undersecretary at the USDA in November after special counsel Bob Mueller revealed that he had encouraged foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos to meet with Russian officials overseas during the 2016 campaign. But two months later, Clovis continues to work as a “senior adviser” inside the department. It’s a prominent role that does not require Senate confirmation and leaves him unaccountable to Congress.
Clovis pulled out just days before his scheduled confirmation hearing. That spared him more than just tough questions about Russia: He has described himself as “extremely skeptical” of climate change, argued that protecting gay rights could lead to the legalization of pedophilia and was the mastermind behind Trump’s 2015 proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
He’s one of multiple Trump picks who couldn’t pass muster with a GOP-controlled Senate yet continues to wield immense authority inside the government.
-- Brett Talley’s nomination to be a federal judge in Alabama failed when multiple Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee turned against him. Among other things, it emerged that he posted a defense of “the first KKK” online in 2011. He failed to disclose that his wife is the chief of staff to the White House counsel on required paperwork about conflicts of interest. He’s also never tried a case. He has, however, written science fiction novels and pulled all-nighters as an amateur ghost hunter.
Talley continues today to be the deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Policy, which (ironically) oversees the Justice Department’s vetting of candidates for judicial nominations.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/01/11/daily-202-these-trump-nominees-couldn-t-get-confirmed-by-the-gop-senate-but-they-re-still-in-government/5a56ded830fb0469e884006f
