Senate Democrats Block U.S. Attorney Nominees from Serving Communities Across America

Senate Democrats Block U.S. Attorney Nominees from Serving Communities Across America

All 10 U.S. Attorney nominees were favorably reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) requested unanimous consent to confirm 10 U.S. Attorney nominees who advanced the Judiciary Committee by voice vote. Since being favorably reported out of committee, these law enforcement nominees have languished on the Senate floor due to historic obstruction by Senate Democrats, including an unprecedented blanket hold on all 93 U.S. Attorneys imposed at the beginning of the second Trump administration.

Today, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) objected to Grassley's request to confirm the U.S. Attorneys - preventing 10 communities across America from receiving their top law enforcement official, including Minnesota, the recent site of a horrific mass shooting. Daniel Rosen, U.S. Attorney nominee for the District of Minnesota, received positive blue slips from the state's two Democratic senators.

Durbin claimed precedent to justify his objection, citing then-Senator J.D. Vance's (R-Ohio) limited hold on a small number of U.S. Attorney nominees in the latter half of the Biden administration. However, Democrats' blanket hold, which began at the beginning of this administration impacts every single U.S. Attorney President Trump nominates.

Democrats' hold forces the Senate to burn valuable hours of floor time to process U.S. Attorney nominees, rather than confirming them by the traditional expedited process of a voice vote. Ninety-four percent of U.S. Attorneys during the Biden administration were confirmed by voice vote. Zero percent of U.S. Attorneys have been confirmed by voice vote so far during the second Trump administration.

Durbin has vigorously opposed U.S. Attorney holds in the past.

"Law enforcement is a team effort, and we need officials at the federal, state, and local level working together to stop crime in this country and to keep people safe. And when it's delayed - putting professionals in place - that delay can cost lives. You can't stand up and say, 'I don't want to defund the police,' and then refuse to fill vacancies when it comes to law enforcement. That's inconsistent," Durbin said on the Senate floor on February 16, 2022.

"Don't lecture me on law and order if you are coming to the floor to prevent qualified law enforcement professionals from helping the Justice Department combat violent crime… It doesn't take political courage to harm an innocent person," Durbin said on the Senate floor on March 30, 2022.

The U.S. Attorney nominees who were reported favorably out of Committee but blocked on the Senate floor include:

• Daniel Rosen* to be U.S. Attorney for Minnesota
• Erik Siebert* to be U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
• David Metcalf* to be U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• David Waterman to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa
• Ronald A. Parsons, Jr. to be U.S. Attorney for South Dakota
• Bart McKay Davis to be U.S. Attorney for Idaho
• Kurt Alme to be U.S. Attorney for Montana
• Nicolas Chase to be U.S. Attorney for North Dakota
• Lesley Murphy to be U.S. Attorney for Nebraska
• Kurt Wall to be U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisianna

*Denotes a nominee who has received a blue slip from one or more Democrat senators.

A video and transcript of Grassley's remarks are below.

VIDEO

Today, I want to address a serious matter of public safety facing our country.

Although our government has many responsibilities, the foremost responsibility of any government is the protection and safety of its citizens.

By many measures, we as elected leaders are falling short.

Recent polling indicates that crime in large cities is a major concern for 81 percent of Americans.

We can debate crime trends and statistics until we're blue in the face, but at the end of the day, if 81 percent of Americans don't feel safe, we aren't doing our jobs.

For hundreds of years, we've known that swift and certain punishment for criminal acts is the basis of deterrence and order.

In a country such as ours, based on the rule of law, this kind of deterrence requires officials to prosecute criminals.

Communities around our country are in desperate need of U.S. Attorneys to protect the public and uphold the rule of law.

We have 10 highly qualified nominees on the Senate floor right now waiting for confirmation, and there is no reason that we shouldn't get them to work for the American people today.

Unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues have engaged in blanket obstruction of all nominees in their misguided attempt to derail the Trump Administration.

This sweeping obstruction, shockingly, includes even highly qualified U.S. Attorneys that are supported by Democratic Senators.

The actions of Senate Democrats are putting the American public in harm's way. There's simply no other way to say it.

On May 22nd, the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee announced a hold on the nomination of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Since then, the Senate Minority Leader and Senate Democrats have expanded the hold to apply to all 93 U.S. Attorneys.

This blockade of public officials is unprecedented and untenable.

As the Ranking Member explained just last Congress, obstructing the confirmation of U.S. Attorneys is, "dangerous" and "undermines public safety across the entire nation." He correctly noted, "You can't prosecute the case if you don't have the U.S. Attorney there to lead the effort [and] coordinate the effort with other branches of government."

I agree completely with each of these points.

My Democratic colleagues claim that their obstruction is justified because, at the end of the Biden Administration, a freshman Senator at the time placed a hold on a handful of U.S. Attorneys.

Although only five U.S. Attorneys were ultimately blocked by that hold, I opposed that decision.

That limited hold was wrong then, and this blanket hold is even more wrong now.

Five U.S. Attorneys held by a freshman Senator at the end of an administration is a far cry from the current widespread obstruction.

The strategy today is orchestrated by Senate Democratic leadership, is occurring at the beginning of an Administration, and impacts all 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country.

Last Congress, the Democratic whip said that requiring a roll call vote for all U.S. Attorneys is unsustainable because "without Senate-confirmed leadership of U.S. Attorneys, public safety will suffer across the United States."

He was entirely correct.

Confirming each U.S. Attorney by roll call would consume more than 230 hours of valuable floor time in the Senate.

So, what's changed?

Why are the same Democrats who decried the obstruction of U.S. Attorneys last year engaging in that very same conduct today?

The answer is that they don't like the President that the American People elected.

I understand disagreements with a President. I certainly had no shortage of objections to the conduct of President Biden.

But elections have consequences, and the President's ability to select these U.S. Attorneys is a direct reflection of his electoral mandate in November 2024.

For months, I've repeatedly tried to engage my Democratic colleagues to end their obstruction.

If some kind of equal measure is necessary, I even offered a compromise where we hold five roll call votes to compensate for the five nominees returned to the President at the end of the Biden Administration.

To my great disappointment, my Democratic colleagues haven't taken me up on that offer. I hope they will relent today.

I remind my Democratic colleagues of the Ranking Member's own warning last Congress when he admonished that the Senate needs to "put public safety and the needs of law enforcement ahead of politics."

Currently, there are 10 U.S. Attorney nominees that have been reported favorably out of Committee by voice vote.

These are not controversial nominees!

Three of them carry blue slips returned by Democratic Senators. Several of them are in districts where recent tragic crimes have taken place.

Instead of languishing on the Senate floor as pawns of partisan obstruction, these nominees should be in their districts investigating crimes, prosecuting criminals and keeping the American people safe.

Take the nomination of Daniel Rosen to the District of Minnesota for example.

Mr. Rosen was reported out of Committee by voice vote. He is supported by his home state Senators Klobuchar and Smith. He is a qualified nominee.

Just last week, in Minnesota, a shooter entered a service at Annunciation Catholic Church, murdering two little children and injuring 18 others!

This horrific crime shocked our nation, and the full force of our government should be mobilized in response.

But what are the Democrats doing instead? They're blocking the confirmation of Mr. Rosen to be the chief federal law enforcement officer in Minnesota.

Not because of any objection to his qualifications, but as an act of pure partisanship.

Enough is enough!

My priority is the safety of the American people. And that priority should be shared by all Members of this body.

I will now ask unanimous consent to confirm the 10 U.S. Attorneys who have been reported out of Committee.

I hope that my Democratic colleagues will relent from their partisan obstruction and allow these nominees to get to work.

Debate and disagreement about policy is to be expected, but it should never come at the expense of public safety.

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