Myrtle B. Debutts

TOPEKA — The U.S. Senate is not carrying over a Kansas City-area attorney’s nomination for a federal judgeship in Kansas into next year.

Senators didn’t vote on Holly Lou Teeter of Lenexa before wrapping up business for the year Thursday. Her nomination then appeared Friday on a list of those not being carried into next year.

Holly Lou Teeter

Senate rules require a nominee who hasn’t received a vote by year’s end to be nominated again unless senators unanimously agree to carry the nomination forward.

The Judiciary Committee endorsed the 38-year-old Teeter’s nomination in November on a 19-1 vote. She is an assistant U.S. attorney for western Missouri.

An American Bar Association committee rated Teeter as “not qualified” because she fell just short of the 12 years of legal experience it believes judicial nominees need.