Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans voted on Thursday to advance the nomination of Emil Bove, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, to a federal judgeship, over the loud protests of Democrats.
The vote — in which all 12 Republican committee members voted to move Bove’s nomination forward — occurred as Democratic Sen. Cory Booker railed against Republican committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and as every Democratic senator walked out.
If he is ultimately confirmed by the Senate, Bove, a senior Justice Department official, will hold a lifetime appointment to the bench for the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals.
“I have respect for you Mr. Chairman, but this is outrageous, this is unacceptable, this is wrong,” Booker, of New Jersey, said at the meeting as his Republican colleagues proceeded with the vote to advance Bove’s nomination. “This is an abuse of power. It is an undermining of the wellbeing and the integrity of this Senate.”
In the weeks since Trump first announced Bove’s nomination, the president’s former attorney has come under fire from Democrats for some of his more controversial decisions at the DOJ, including mass firings within the Justice Department, threats against officials who resist Trump’s immigration agenda, a campaign to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and investigations into officials who worked on cases related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Earlier this week, more than 75 former federal and state judges, both conservative and liberal, urged the Judiciary Committee to reject Bove’s nomination.
Last month, a whistleblower letter from a terminated DOJ employee alleged that Bove and other top Justice Department officials intended to ignore court orders and mislead federal judges. Among the whistleblower’s allegations against Bove were that he stated in a March meeting “that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts ‘f**k you’” if they stood in the way of Trump’s deportation efforts.
Bove repeatedly rebuffed such claims of corruption last month in his confirmation hearing before the same committee that advanced his nomination Thursday. During that confirmation hearing, Bove said he had “no recollection” of the claims leveraged in the whistleblower letter.
“What we’re witnessing has all of the hallmarks of a political hit job done for maximum media splash with minimum substance,” Grassley said of the attacks on Bove.
“Time and time again, there were allegations made against this nominee by independent people, by Republicans, by career professionals, and we are not listening to them or demanding answers,” Booker responded Thursday.
Trump’s Justice Department itself has also become the center of a growing fissure between the president and his MAGA base over the Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Trump has repeatedly defended Bondi and, in a post on Truth Social yesterday, derided his own supporters who continue to demand more information on Epstein as “weaklings.”
Bove is not the first of Trump’s former personal attorneys to be nominated to a high-profile job within the administration — both Solicitor General John Sauer and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche have previously represented the president. But he is the first former Trump lawyer to be selected to serve on the federal bench.
While working as the president’s personal attorney, Bove helped defend Trump in his federal criminal cases, both of which were dismissed after his reelection last fall, and in the New York hush-money case, where he was found guilty of all 34 charges he faced.
Pirro nomination
The Senate Judiciary Committee also voted Thursday to advance the nomination of Jeanine Pirro to serve as the DC US attorney, the capital’s top federal prosecutor.
Pirro, a former Fox News host, judge, and district attorney for Westchester County in New York, is currently serving as the interim US attorney. She was named to that interim position in May, after Trump’s first pick, Ed Martin, faced insurmountable pushback from Republican lawmakers.
By the time the meeting wrapped, every Democrat had left the room. Prior to adjourning the meeting, Grassley pointed to a November 2023 instance in which Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin – then the committee chair – advanced a vote on two judicial nominees over Republican protests to continue debate.
“If you’ll spread that word that this is not unprecedented, either the actions of the minority walking away or what we did here as the majority,” Grassley said right before adjourning the meeting. “It’s happened before. We have to move things along.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
