Business meeting to consider the nominations of Joshua D. Dunlap, of Maine, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit, Eric Chunyee Tung, of California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, William W. Mercer, to be United States District Judge for the District of Montana, Stephen Chad Meredith, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Arch Capito, to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia for the term of four years, David Dunavant, to be United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee for the term of four years, Matthew Harvey, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia for the term of four years, John Heekin, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida for the term of four years, Scott Leary, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi for the term of four years, Leif Olson, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa for the term of four years, Adam Sleeper, to be United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands for the term of four years, and David Toepfer, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio for the term of four years.
2025-09-11
Source: Congress.gov
Summary
On the 24th anniversary of 9/11, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on multiple nominations for U.S. attorneys, circuit and district judges, and the ongoing obstruction of executive branch appointments. Chairman Chuck Grassley criticized Democratic-led obstruction of voice votes for U.S. attorney confirmations, citing a lack of bipartisan cooperation and linking it to public safety concerns following recent violent incidents. Witnesses, including Senators Durbin, Schiff, and Blackburn, expressed concerns about nominees' ideological views, particularly regarding reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ protections. The hearing highlighted the tension over judicial nominations, the role of blue slips, and the potential impact of partisan gridlock on federal law enforcement. Ultimately, all nominees were favorably reported by a roll-call vote, with the committee rejecting several based on perceived ideological extremism or lack of experience. The hearing underscored the broader debate over Senate traditions, the efficacy of confirmation processes, and the need for bipartisan cooperation in protecting national security and public safety.
Participants
Transcript
This is the anniversary of 9-11. I thought I'd remind my colleagues that maybe you weren't here a couple things I remember about it. I got in the radio studio when we saw on television the first tower being hit. We didn't know anything about it at that time. I came back to the radio studio a half hour for another program that I've done every Tuesday in the last 30 years, and still didn't know. And when I walked out of the radio studio, and this is before the visitor center was set up, so it was in an entirely different location. Somebody said, some lady that worked there said, Senator Grassley, You gotta be very careful. Something bad happened at the Pentagon. Then I went to my capital office and within five minutes, a policeman knocked on the door and said, you gotta get out of here right away. So let me say good morning to everybody. And as I just said, before we begin, take a moment to reflect Today's the 24th anniversary of September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack on our country. I think it's fitting before we engage in debate of our political disagreements of the day to remember the tragedy and recall how it united us as American people in our resolve against those who inflict violence against our political ends. Tragically, we have another reason to reflect on this same topic, because yesterday Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University.
I'm sure we're all praying for Charlie and his family, although we don't know all the details about the shooting, the motive, or that motive. It's a horrible reminder that acts of political terrorism and violence are something that we must resolve to oppose every day. On today's agenda, we have listed the nominations of Joshua Dunlap and Eric Tung to be circuit judges. William Mercer and Stephen Chad Meredith to be district judges and the nominations of 18 individuals to be U.S. attorneys. We'll hold over the nomination of Scott Larry to be U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi and we'll consider him at a later date. The nominees that we're considering today are well qualified for their roles and I look forward to supporting them. I encourage my colleagues to do the same. Before we turn to the agenda, I'd like to address the ongoing obstruction of executive branch employees in the United States Senate. Historically, The consideration of U.S. attorneys has been a routine and bipartisan exercise, both in committee and on the Senate floor. These men and women have answered the call to public service and are needed to uphold the public safety in their communities. U.S. attorneys have nearly always been voted out of committee by voice vote. and then confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent.
During the last administration, 94% of President Biden's U.S. Attorney nominees were confirmed by voice vote on the Senate floor, but so far not a single U.S. Attorney has been confirmed on the Senate floor by voice. In fact, the Democrats have allowed, haven't allowed a single voice vote on the floor for any civilian nominee this Congress. The obstruction of US attorneys hurts our public safety. As I've said many times, and I've said this on the Senate floor as well, 81% of the Americans think that crime in the large cities is a major concern. We have only to look at tragedies from the last few days to understand why Americans are concerned about crime in our cities. the murder of Charlie Kirk yesterday, the school shootings in Colorado yesterday, the recent mass shootings of little children at the Catholic Church in Minnesota, or the senseless murder of a young woman on a train in Charlotte. We as elected leaders have a responsibility to do something about this, and we can do something about it by installing federal law enforcement officers to keep people safe. Unfortunately, we're not allowed to do that in the United States Senate the way it's being obstructed today. Senate Democrats cannot accept that President Trump won the election, so they have chosen to light the Senate traditions on fire and campaign partisan outrage. For months, I begged my colleagues to put the safety of American communities over partisan obstruction.
I've warned of the lasting damage their strategy will cause in the Senate as an institution and to our constitutional advice and consent role. I've gone to the Senate floor multiple times to implore my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to relent from this destructive path. My appeals have, of course, fallen on deaf ears. The obstruction of US attorneys is just one piece of a broader strategy of the Democratic leadership to not have the Senate move forward on very important issues. This only hurts the American people. And now this unprecedented obstruction is impacting the operation of our Judiciary Committee for the last 75 years and probably much longer. The Senate Judiciary Committee has reported many of our nominees by voice vote. This is an efficient, cooperative way to process nominations as is generally appreciated by both the majority and minority caucuses.
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