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.

Committee on the Judiciary

2025-09-11

Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee involved reflections on significant national events and vigorous debate over judicial and U.S. Attorney nominations, marked by bipartisan efforts in some areas but also strong partisan disagreements regarding Senate traditions and nominees' ideologies.

Themes

9/11 Anniversary and Public Safety Concerns

Chairman Grassley began the meeting by observing the 24th anniversary of September 11th, reflecting on the tragedy and the unity it fostered among Americans, before linking it to recent acts of violence, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk and school shootings, to underscore public safety concerns. [ 00:31:19-00:32:38 ]

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 He emphasized the responsibility of elected leaders to install federal law enforcement officers to enhance public safety, asserting that current obstruction in the Senate prevents this. [ 00:35:08-00:35:13 ]

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 Senator Durbin echoed the remembrance of 9/11, sharing his personal experience in the Capitol during the attacks and recalling the spontaneous bipartisan unity that followed, specifically praising President George W. Bush's leadership in preventing a war against the Muslim faith.

Obstruction of Nominations and Senate Norms

Chairman Grassley criticized what he called "unprecedented obstruction" of U.S. Attorney nominations by Senate Democrats and Senator Schumer, stating it harms public safety and breaks longstanding Senate traditions. [ 00:34:34-00:35:19 ]

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 He suggested that this pattern of partisan obstruction necessitates a rule change to ensure a functioning executive branch and Senate. Senator Durbin countered the claim of "unprecedented" obstruction by citing previous instances of Republican senators blocking U.S. Attorney nominees for months. He expressed hope for a bipartisan resolution rather than resorting to a "nuclear option." A brief exchange between Senator Britt, Grassley, and Durbin clarified that Senator Schumer was the one objecting to voice votes on the Senate floor for nominees, despite prior agreements with Durbin in committee. [ 00:37:11-00:37:13 ]

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Judicial Nominations and Ideological Debates

The committee debated and voted on several judicial nominations. Senator Whitehouse opposed Joshua Dunlap for the First Circuit Court of Appeals, citing the Republican-led disregard for the "blue slip" tradition and Dunlap's "virulently anti-choice" and anti-gay marriage stances. Similarly, Senators Padilla and Schiff strongly opposed Eric Tung for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, highlighting his "extreme ideologies," lack of lead counsel experience, and "originalist" views that reject constitutional rights for abortion and same-sex marriage. [ 00:47:22-00:47:57 ]

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[ 00:48:19-00:48:20 ]

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 Senator Whitehouse also opposed William Mercer for a District Judge position due to his past legislative opposition to protecting sexual abuse victims and a federal judge's criticism of Mercer for "pursuing statistics rather than justice." Senator Durbin opposed Stephen Chad Meredith for a District Judge position because of past comments insulting women's medical understanding. Despite these objections, all four judicial nominations were favorably reported.

U.S. Attorney Nominations

The committee also considered and voted on numerous U.S. Attorney nominations. David Dunvant for the Western District of Tennessee received support from Senator Blackburn, who noted his prior unanimous confirmation, experience, and success in reducing violent crime and federal firearms cases. Chairman Grassley pointed out that David Waterman for the Southern District of Iowa had previously been nominated by President Biden, indicating potential bipartisan support. Multiple U.S. Attorney nominees were voted on individually and en bloc. All U.S. Attorney nominations brought to a vote were favorably reported. [ 00:54:15 ]

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Tone of the Meeting

The meeting maintained a largely formal and serious tone, balancing moments of somber reflection with contentious partisan debate. While Chairman Grassley and Senator Durbin shared a respectful personal relationship and acknowledged their efforts to work together, particularly in managing the committee, there was clear and vocal disagreement on the floor over Senate procedures and the qualifications and ideologies of specific nominees. The exchanges highlighted deep ideological divides, especially concerning judicial appointments, but the proceedings ultimately followed established parliamentary rules for voting. [ 00:47:22-00:47:57 ]

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Participants

Transcript

J
John Heekin
Thank you.
Thank you.
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.

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