Senate Judiciary Republicans Push Forward Jeanine Pirro’s Nomination As U.S. Attorney; Democrats Walk Out In Protest Of Emil Bove Nomination

Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday in favor of former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro‘s nomination to serve as permanent U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia.

But they did so without any Democrats present on the committee, as they staged a walk out as Chairman Chuck Grassley moved to vote on a slate of judicial appointments. Democrats’ primarily focused on the nomination of Emil Bove, who represented Trump in his New York criminal case and later served as acting deputy attorney general, to serve as an appellate judge.

Trump appointed Pirro to serve as acting U.S. attorney in May, the latest Fox News figure to get a spot in his administration. She was a strident defender of the president on Fox News’ The Five, which is the top rated show on cable news.

“Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself,” Trump posted on Truth Social when announcing her selection.

Democrats, though, were likely to vote against her nomination. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the ranking member, wrote on X Wednesday that Pirro was “a January 6 apologist, siding with violent insurrectionists over law enforcement by supporting criminal charges against line prosecutors handling insurrection-related cases. She’s an election denialist, recklessly peddling President Trump’s Big Lie despite even her own Fox News producers and executives warning her to reel it in.”

He also warned that Pirro would be a “Trump loyalist, vengefully attacking his perceived political opponents and showing no willingness to put the rule of law ahead of the President’s wishes.”

Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have praised Pirro, saying she will focus on reducing crime in the nation’s capital.

This week, Pirro filed a new lawsuit against three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, claiming that they have continued to serve on the board even though Trump fired them.

The CPB challenged Trump’s dismissals of Tom Rothman, Laura Ross and Diane Kaplan. A federal judge turned down the CPB’s request to immediately block Trump’s firings. But the judge also cautioned that Trump still would not be able to wrest control of the board, and also noted that the corporation had recently changed its bylaws that restricts the president’s actions.

Pirro wrote on X, “The President legally removed three board members of Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They sued to stay. The court ruled against them and yet they ignored the court decision and stayed. It’s time for them to go!!”

Democrats contend that the GOP was rushing to confirm Bove, in the midst of information provided by Erez Reuveni, a former DOJ attorney who claims that the Trump nominee suggested that court orders in immigration cases should be defied. Democrats also questioned Bove’s role in the DOJ scrutiny of the Jeffrey Epstein case, which led to a DOJ statement that denied the existence of a client list.

“If you want to force this through, if you want to ram this through, there is a way to do it in accordance to the rules as spelled out by the parliamentarian,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), said to Grassley as other Democrats walked out. He eventually did as well.

Grassley said at the end of the hearing, “What happened here today is no different than” when Democrats cut off debate on past judicial appointments when they were in the majority.

“This is not unprecedented,” Grassley said. “…It’s happened before, and we have to move things along.”