President Donald Trump on Monday resubmitted several nominees who did not make it through the Senate by the end of December, including a few of the administration’s more controversial picks.
Trump only had to resubmit the nominees because the Senate started a new session, not because Congress rejected the nominees outright, but several of the picks were deliberately delayed.
Among the resubmitted nominees was KT McFarland, the former deputy to Michael Flynn. Trump nominated McFarland to serve as the ambassador to Singapore about a month after she left her role on the national security team. Though she initially cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, her nomination was stalled when documents revealed that she knew about Flynn’s contacts with Russian officials during the transition.
Trump also renominated GOP Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to be the ambassador at large for international religious freedom. Brownback, an ultra-conservative governor who is unpopular in his own state, was nominated back in July. His nomination was held up for months by Democrats who took issue with his record on LGBT rights.
Two judicial nominees who received “not qualified” ratings from the American Bar Association, were also resubmitted by Trump. The ABA rated Charles Goodwin as “not qualified” back in October, and the ABA rated Holly Teeter as “not qualified” in November.
