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Senate Democrats stormed out of a hearing room today after the Judiciary Committee's Republican leader moved to cut off debate on a controversial nominee. The nominee has been a senior leader at the Justice Department this year, and he is now one step away from a job as a Federal Appeals Court judge. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: More than 900 former Justice Department lawyers urged senators to vote no on the nomination of Emil Bove to serve as a Federal Appeals Court judge in Philadelphia. Iowa Republican Charles Grassley, who leads the Judiciary Committee, brushed aside that criticism.
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CHARLES GRASSLEY: What we're witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job - time for maximum media splash with minimum substance.
JOHNSON: Bove once defended Donald Trump in court, but since January, he's served as a top official inside the Justice Department, giving advice on pardons for the people who stormed the Capitol more than four years ago and moving to fire some of the lawyers who prosecuted those January 6 defendants. Senator Richard Durbin's a Democrat from Illinois.
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RICHARD DURBIN: This man believes that those who aggressively punish cop beaters are as bad as the cop beaters themselves. This false equivalence is deeply offensive by a man who wants a lifetime appointment to the second-highest court in the land.
JOHNSON: Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, pushed back on that.
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THOM TILLIS: I can't find one piece of evidence where he said that the violent act against police officers were OK or condoned. If you find it, let me know.
JOHNSON: A Justice Department whistleblower recently came forward to claim Bove told DOJ lawyers to be ready to disobey court orders that might have blocked the president's deportation plans. Democrats want to hear from that whistleblower. Again, Senator Durbin.
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DURBIN: He's ready to stand before you, raise his right hand, take an oath and testify under oath. What more can you ask about credibility than that?
JOHNSON: Bove told senators at his confirmation hearing he never told anyone to violate a court order. And Grassley, the committee chairman, said he had heard enough.
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GRASSLEY: We'll go to Bove's nomination. The clerk will call the roll.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, point of personal privilege.
JOHNSON: Democrats tried to keep the debate going, with Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii raising their voices.
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CORY BOOKER: This is outrageous.
MAZIE HIRONO: This is a kangaroo court. That's what we have here, Mr. Chairman.
BOOKER: This is wrong.
JOHNSON: Then Democrats began to march out of the room in protest. The nomination for Bove advanced with only Republican votes. The committee also moved ahead with the nomination of former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to serve as U.S. Attorney in Washington. Pirro spread conspiracies about the 2020 election and said she was not aware of the pardons for January 6 rioters who violently assaulted police. Both nominees still require a vote from the full Senate.
Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
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