Buckeye Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator JD Vance (R-OH) stood firm on his pledge to hold nominees to the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ). Senator Vance originally announced his hold policy in June in response to the Biden DOJ’s unprecedented political prosecution of President Donald J. Trump.

In an objection to the latest effort by Senate Democrats to confirm a DOJ nominee with a controversial and troubling history, Senator Vance issued the following remarks:

Senator Vance: “Madam President, reserving the right to object. Let me address a few of my distinguished colleague from Illinois’ comments. First of all, while it is true that my whole policy regarding the Department of Justice is not focused on any particular nominee, I do think this particular nominee is particularly troublesome, and let me just talk about why. Ms. Perry is a figure who served as chief ethics officer in the Cook County State Attorney’s Office during the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax.

“You may remember that from a few years ago. This is when a person accused people of engaging in a false hate crime, took a ton of state resources to investigate it, and it turned out the entire thing was fraudulent, meant to gin up publicity for Mr. Smollett. Now, everyone pretty much agrees that Ms. Fox, who was the state attorney at the time, engaged in some pretty unethical behavior, and Ms. Perry effectively rubber stamped it.

“Is this the sort of person who could be trusted to impartially administer justice in the Biden Garland Department of Justice? I don’t think that she is. So I’ll be voting against her nomination. And I also object to giving a streamlined confirmation process for her. Now, the senator from Illinois is apparently hell bent on coming before the chamber every single week to litigate what I think and believe is a corrupt and politicized Department of Justice.

“He makes much and he makes much every single time we engage in this exercise about the fact that the Department of Justice has never had this kind of hold policy placed on it before. I agree this is a new and unique circumstance. What is much different about the Trump administration Department of Justice, and the Merrick Garland, Joe Biden Department of Justice is Donald Trump never tried to throw his political opponents in prison.

“This is crazy banana republic stuff and I will not stand for it. I will continue to hold these nominations. I will continue to push back against the politicization of justice. And finally, let me just say what I have asked for and what I will continue to ask for is that these nominees go through regular order. The senator knows well what everybody else knows, that as one senator, I cannot prevent the confirmation of these nominees, however much I might like to.

“What I can do is force us to go through regular order. I ask for a vote, Senator Durbin. You can invoke cloture. We can vote on cloture. We can then do a recorded vote. That is what we have done with many, many nominees. And because of the corruption of Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice, it’s what I ask with this nominee and with any in the future. Because of that, Madam President, I object.”

For Background:

• Senator Vance’s hold on the Biden administration’s DOJ nominees ensures nominees face confirmation votes before the entire U.S. Senate, rather than confirmation without debate through unanimous consent.

Original source can be found here.