Durbin Slams Senate Judiciary Republicans For Attempting To Jam Through Extreme Judicial Nominees Before Democrats Take Senate Majority

Durbin Slams Senate Judiciary Republicans For Attempting To Jam Through Extreme Judicial Nominees Before Democrats Take Senate Majority

During today's Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, Durbin called out Committee Republicans for abandoning longstanding bipartisan Committee practices to push through extreme and unqualified nominees during the lame-duck session

WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement highlighting the longstanding bipartisan Committee norms that Republicans are violating to jam through the Trump Administration's extreme and unqualified nominees during the lame-duck session. As Durbin made clear in his remarks, Committee Republicans missed multiple opportunities to slate nominees for earlier hearings, and now that Democrats are poised to lead the Senate come January, Committee Republicans are attempting to fast-track nominees.

Further, Durbin specifically called out Committee Republicans' attempt to jam through two nominees, James Sullivan and Elliot Gaiser, for lifetime appointments to federal district courts in Texas before the new Congress in hopes of circumventing any consultation with Senator-elect James Talarico (D-TX). In a clearly premeditated move, the Department of Justice submitted Mr. Sullivan's Senate Judiciary Questionnaire the day after he lost his election to the Texas Supreme Court. Similarly, Mr. Gaiser's Questionnaire discloses that he was contacted by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's (R-TX) office about being nominated just one day after the election.

Key Quotes:

"In the waning days of this Congress, in light of the last [week's] election, the Chairman is violating numerous longstanding Committee norms that Republicans and Democratic Chairs alike have followed for years, without consent from the minority-a key phrase when it comes to the rules of this Committee. The majority is planning to hold nominations hearings today and next week, contrary to our practice of holding nominations hearings no closer than two weeks apart. They're slating two nominees for next week's hearing whose Questionnaires were received 10 and 14 days before the hearing, respectively, contrary to the 28 days-[rule], which has been required by both political parties up until now. They're calling nominees for hearings even if their FBI background investigations have not yet been cleared by staff, and they're slating as many as seven nominees for a single hearing."

"Why? Because the Republicans are losing the majority and they're afraid that unqualified MAGA loyalists won't withstand close scrutiny when Democrats are in the majority."

"Consider two Texas nominees who are slated for next week's hearing: James Sullivan and Elliot Gaiser. On Tuesday, November 3, James Sullivan lost his election for the Texas Supreme Court. The very next day, the Administration submitted his Senate Judiciary Questionnaire, which had obviously been prepared in advance."

"[Gaiser's] Questionnaire was submitted to this Committee two days ago…It says that Senator Cruz's office contacted him the day after the election about the nomination."

"Under the Committee's precedents, these two nominees can't be confirmed before the end of this Congress…So, Republicans are breaking the rules to jam through these nominees and avoid on obvious thing-on January 3, there will be a new Senator from Texas. Senator Talarico (D-TX) has the right, as all Senators do, to approve or disapprove district court nominees in a process known as the blue slip."

"What we are seeing here is an effort to scramble quickly to resurrect defeated candidates in Texas and others to fill positions on the federal district court before Senator Talarico is sworn in on January 3. It's pretty obvious. There's such a scramble to do this that they are ignoring the rules of the Committee."

"Before appointing a person to a lifetime appointment to the federal bench, shouldn't we take a close look at their background? We have in the past, but clearly we are not any longer. I think that is a serious mistake, Mr. Chairman. When you have to live with it under a new Chairman, I'm sorry to tell you, but you asked for it."

Video of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Audio of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Footage of Durbin's opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

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