Senator Kennedy’s Judicial Pop Quizzes Trip Up Nervous Nominees

Fifteen lawyers sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but John Kennedy manages to get inside the heads of judicial nominees with his questions like nobody else.

The Louisiana Republican with a southern drawl and a former law professor’s Socratic method likes to pose questions about legal doctrines and courtroom procedure that have tripped up nominees from both parties.

Last month, Charnelle Bjelkengren asked the Biden administration to withdraw her name from consideration for a federal trial court seat in Washington state after she flubbed a quiz about Articles II and V of the US Constitution.

The risk of becoming Kennedy’s ...