In Speech On Senate Floor, Durbin Condemns Senate Republicans For Going Nuclear On President Trump's Nominations

In Speech On Senate Floor, Durbin Condemns Senate Republicans For Going Nuclear On President Trump's Nominations

The move would erode the Senate's procedures and open the door to even more unqualified nominees

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor denouncing Senate Republicans' plan to change Senate rules to fast-track President Trump's unqualified nominees. The move undermines the ability of the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty of advice and consent on nominations.

"Before the recess, Senate Democrats worked in good faith with Senate Republicans to negotiate a package of nominations to break the deadlock and move these nominations through the chamber in an expedited, professional, [and] bipartisan fashion. At the very last minute, however, President Trump blew up the negotiation. Rather than stand up to him, Senate Republicans are now willing to give away the Senate's authority when it comes to advice and consent," said Durbin. "Senate Republicans claim they are violating Senate rules just for this set of nominees, but I'm afraid this is going to open the door to rushing through more extreme nominations whose only qualification seems to be loyalty to the chief."

Durbin then spoke on the unqualified and extreme nominees that have already been confirmed by the Senate-including FBI Director Kash Patel. As a private citizen, Mr. Patel directed the purge of honorable career public servants at the FBI and then lied about it under oath at his confirmation hearing. Mr. Patel auditioned for the FBI job by trying to whitewash January 6, calling the rioters who stormed the Capitol "political prisoners" and producing the so-called January 6 Choir, which included several prisoners who violently assaulted police officers.

"I warned my colleagues that confirming Mr. Patel would risk our national security and public safety… My colleagues gave a green light to use the FBI's vast surveillance and investigative power to go after President Trump's critics. That is exactly what has happened," Durbin continued.

Durbin also spoke about Aaron Reitz, nominated to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. At his confirmation hearing, Durbin asked him a very simple question: can an elected official defy a federal court order? Mr. Reitz refused to commit that an elected official must always follow a court order. He also holds extreme views, including that the Supreme Court opinion upholding marriage equality was a "low point in SCOTUS history," and that "'birthright citizenship' is not a thing." Senate Republicans dutifully confirmed Mr. Reitz, but he resigned after only three months on the job to run for Texas Attorney General.

"Senate Republicans also confirmed Jeanine Pirro as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia… Ms. Pirro is another nominee who auditioned for a role in the Administration by declaring her loyalty to the President on TV for over a decade. Ms. Pirro's repeated lies to millions of viewers about the 2020 election forced Fox News to pay nearly $800 million to settle defamation claims brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Like Mr. Patel, Ms. Pirro has claimed January 6 rioters were 'hostages'… and she argued that prosecutors handling January 6 cases should themselves be criminally prosecuted," Durbin said.

Although U.S. Attorneys are not included in the new rules change, Durbin spoke on the precedent then-Senator Vance created.

"It's been my honor and responsibility to vote on many nominees as part of the advice and consent section of the Constitution. Let me give you some facts about filling vacancies… We [Democrats and Republicans] filled the vacancies for U.S. Attorneys in President Donald Trump's first term. All [85] spots were filled without a single record vote… Then what happened under the Biden Administration? Unfortunately, something that we're still living with today and we see manifested in this procedural action. There was a decision made by one senator, Senator Vance of Ohio, now our Vice President, to stop the nominations on the floor for Biden's U.S. Attorneys by voice vote. He stood up and objected. He said… 'I want to do this to grind the Department of Justice to a halt.'… I came to the floor on many occasions pleading with him to stop his effort… And so, we find ourselves where we are today, a standoff when it comes to U.S. Attorneys and other nominees because of this history. There is a way out of this mess. There's a bipartisan solution to this," Durbin concluded.

Video of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

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