No More Business as Usual: Republicans Ratchet Up Pressure in Senate

by Rob Bluey | The Daily Signal

Two weeks after Democrats gloated over the guilty verdict of former President Donald Trump, six Senate Republicans are vowing to exact revenge for the Biden administration’s use of lawfare to target a political opponent.

Their target: 44 nominees of President Joe Biden who are awaiting Senate confirmation.

The six GOP senators—JD Vance of Ohio, Mike Lee of Utah, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Roger Marshall of Kansas, and Eric Schmitt of Missouri—joined forces Thursday with a commitment to block confirmation of the nominees.

Tuberville, who last year delayed the promotions of military officers over a dispute with the Biden administration, is now using his ability as a senator to stop the Democrat-led chamber from swiftly confirming Biden’s nominees.

This time, he’ll have more Republicans to back him up.

“Every signer is pledged to defend against attempts to fast-track the confirmation of Biden nominees,” the senators wrote in their letter. “This will be accomplished through a joint effort and not be reliant upon a single Member’s willingness to hold every nominee.”

They added:

In a continuing response to the current administration’s persecution of President Donald Trump, we will not allow the fast-tracking of any Biden Article III court judicial nominees, as well as Biden U.S. attorney nominations.

Further, we will not permit the fast-tracking of nominees who have suggested the Trump prosecutions were reasonable, endorsed President Trump’s guilt in these sham proceedings, joined or supported organizations that celebrated the indictment of President Trump, supported the ‘get-Trump’ candidacy of Alvin Bragg, or supported lawfare or censorship in other ways.

This complement to the pledge of May 31 will last until Election Day, when the American people will have the opportunity to decisively reject attempts to settle political disputes through the legal system.

That earlier pledge, issued shortly after a New York jury’s guilty verdict of Trump, promised to oppose Democrats’ legislative priorities and nominations.

The new effort puts the focus on the following 44 nominees awaiting confirmation.

1. Johnny C. Gogo, nominated to be a U.S. attorney for the Districts of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands
2. April M. Perry, nominated to be a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois
3. Joshua S. Levy, nominated to be a U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts
4. Rebecca C. Lutzko, nominated to be a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
5. Matthew L. Gannon, nominated to be a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
6. David C. Waterman, nominated to be a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa
7. Joseph Russell Palmore, nominated to be an associate judge for the DC Court of Appeals
8. Carmen G. Iguina Gonzalez, nominated to be an associate judge for the DC Court of Appeals
9. John Cuong Truong, nominated to be an associate judge for the DC Superior Court
10. Rahkel Bouchet, nominated to be an associate judge for the DC Superior Court
11. Ray D. McKenzie, nominated to be an associate judge for the DC Superior Court
12. Erin Camille Johnston, nominated to be an associate judge for the DC Superior Court
13. Sherri Malloy Beatty-Arthur, nominated to be an associate judge for the DC Superior Court
14. Anne Hwang, nominated to be a judge for the Central District of California
15. Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon, nominated to be a judge for the Central District of California
16. Michelle Williams Court, nominated to be a judge for the Central District of California
17. Stacey D. Neumann, nominated to be a judge for the District of Maine
18. Adam B. Abelson, nominated to be a judge for the District of Maryland
19. Danna R. Jackson, nominated to be a judge for the District of Montana
20. Embry J. Kidd, nominated to be a judge for the 11th Circuit
21. Joseph Francis Saporito, Jr., nominated to be a judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
22. Rebecca Suzanne Kanter, nominated to be a judge for the Southern District of California
23. Detra Shaw-Wilder, nominated to be a judge for the Southern District of Florida
24. Sarah Netburn, nominated to be a judge for the Southern District of New York
25. Meredith A. Vacca, nominated to be a judge for the Western District of New York
26. Julia M. Lipez, nominated to be a judge for the 1st Circuit
27. Mary Kay Lanthier, nominated to be a judge for the District of Vermont
28. Catherine Henry, nominated to be a judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
29. Karla M. Campbell, nominated to be a Judge for the 6th Circuit
30. Charlie Crist, nominated to be the U.S. representative to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization
31. Corey Anne Tellez, nominated to be deputy undersecretary for the Department of the Treasury
32. Andrew William Plitt, nominated to be an assistant administrator of the Agency for International Development
33. James J. Blanchard, nominated to be a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy
34. Margaret L. Taylor, nominated to be a legal advisor for the Department of State
35. Jay T. Snyder, nominated to be a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy
36. John Gleeson, nominated to be a Member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission
37. Christopher H. Schroeder, nominated to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
38. Leslie N. Bluhm, nominated to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service
39. Jeffrey R. Gural, nominated to be chairman of the Public Buildings Reform Board
40. Martin Joseph Walsh, nominated to be governor of the U.S. Postal Service
41. John Bradford Wiegmann, nominated for general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
42. Barbara Lee, nominated to be representative to the General Assembly of the United Nations
43. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, nominated to be representative of the United States on the Board of the World Health Organization
44. Janet Louise Yellen, nominated to be governor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, governor of the Inter-American Development Bank, governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and governor of the International Monetary Fund