Jonathan A. Kobes

Jonathan Allen Kobes (born August 25, 1974) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Jonathan A. Kobes
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Assumed office
December 12, 2018
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byRoger Leland Wollman
Personal details
Born (1974-08-25) August 25, 1974
Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationDordt University (BA)
Harvard Law School (JD)

Education and career

Kobes received his Bachelor of Arts from Dordt University and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor and the business manager of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Roger Leland Wollman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He previously was a litigation attorney at the Central Intelligence Agency and an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota. Later, Kobes was an associate at the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, office of Murphy, Goldammer & Prendergast. Kobes was then senior counsel to POET and senior regulatory counsel to DuPont Pioneer. Before returning to the government, he was Director of Corporate Compliance at Raven Industries.

From 2014 to 2018, Kobes worked as an aide and counsel to U.S. Senator Mike Rounds.[1]

Federal judicial service

On June 7, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Kobes to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.[2] On June 11, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. Trump nominated Kobes to the seat being vacated by Judge Roger Leland Wollman, who previously announced his intention to take senior status on a date to be determined.[3] On August 22, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[4]

On September 14, 2018, the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rated Kobes "Not Qualified."[5] The ABA's report said that Kobes was "a very accomplished, competent, and capable person, but his career path has not resulted in sufficient evidence of a developed ability to do the written work of a United States circuit court judge."[6][7] The ABA report questioned Kobes' understanding of "complex legal analysis" and "knowledge of the law".[1] At the time of his nomination, Kobes had tried six cases during his legal career, cases that the ABA considered straightforward and not "legally complex".[1]

On October 11, 2018, Kobes' nomination was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a party-line 11–10 vote.[8] On November 29, 2018, the Senate voted to invoke cloture on Kobes' nomination by a 50–49 vote, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie.[9] On December 11, 2018, he was confirmed in the Senate by a vote of 51–50, with Pence casting his vote in the affirmative.[10][11] He was the first federal judicial nominee ever confirmed by a tie-breaking vote.[12] Kobes received his judicial commission on December 12, 2018.

Memberships

He was a member of the Federalist Society from 1999–2004.[13]

See also

References
  1. Edmondson, Catie (December 11, 2018). "Trump's Judicial Nominees Take Heat but Largely Keep Marching Through Senate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Fifteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Fourteenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees, and Ninth Wave of United States Marshal Nominees". whitehouse.gov (Press release). June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. "Seventeen Nominations Sent to the Senate Today". The White House.
  4. "Nominations - United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov.
  5. Gregory, Patrick (September 17, 2018). "ABA Rates Another Trump 8th Circuit Nominee 'Not Qualified'". Bloomberg BNA. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  6. Silverstein, Jason (December 11, 2018). "Federal judge becomes first in U.S. history confirmed by tiebreaker in the Senate". CBS News. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  7. Weiss, Debra Cassens (December 12, 2018). "Pence breaks tie to confirm 8th Circuit nominee with 'not qualified' rating from ABA committee". ABA Journal. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  8. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – October 11, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee" (PDF).
  9. "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 115th Congress - 2nd Session". www.senate.gov.
  10. Ellis, Jonathan (December 11, 2018). "Trump judicial nominee, Sioux Falls lawyer Jonathan Kobes, wins confirmation". Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  11. Carney, Jordain (December 11, 2018). "Pence casts tie-breaking vote for Trump appeals court judge". The Hill. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  12. Silverstein, Jason (December 11, 2018). "Federal judge becomes first in U.S. history confirmed by tiebreaker in the Senate". CBS News. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  13. "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Jonathan A. Kobes" (PDF).
Legal offices
Preceded by
Roger Leland Wollman		 Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
2018–present		 Incumbent
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