Durbin Speaks Against Emil Bove's Nomination During Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke against Emil Bove’s nomination to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit at today’s Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting. During Mr. Bove’s nomination hearing yesterday, Durbin outlined how Mr. Bove, a former personal defense attorney of President Trump, is unfit to serve as a federal judge with a lifetime appointment. Durbin’s opening statement from yesterday’s hearing is available here and questions for Mr. Bove are available here. 

Durbin also spoke against several Trump judicial nominees who were eligible for a Committee vote today, including Whitney Hermandorfer, to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit; Zachary Bluestone, to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri; Joshua Divine, to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri; Maria Lanahan, to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri; and Cristian Stevens, to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Key Durbin quotes on Mr. Bove’s nomination:

“Yesterday, the Committee held a hearing on Emil Bove, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. We learned nothing that would give us comfort that Mr. Bove is not simply on a MAGA mission.”

“Now is there any evidence? Well in a social media post announcing Mr. Bove’s nomination, President Trump himself wrote that Mr. Bove, would ‘do anything…that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.’ President Trump’s candor belies Mr. Bove’s failing memory and pledge to honor the rule of law. It is abundantly clear that President Trump nominated Mr. Bove as a reward for his loyalty and expects this to continue.”

“Mr. Bove has led the effort to weaponize the Justice Department to benefit President Trump and his allies and punish his enemies. Mr. Bove has fired dozens of career federal prosecutors who had the audacity to work on cases related to the January 6 insurrection that were assigned to them.”

“Because of President Trump’s determination to rewrite history and paint January 6 prosecutions as a ‘grave national injustice,’ career prosecutors lost their careers. This is a shameful display of retribution.”

“The day before the hearing, Mr. Erez Reuveni, a respected 14-year career Justice Department attorney, filed a whistleblower disclosure with the Committee. He did not leak it. He published it and sent it to us. Mr. Reuveni had defended the first Trump Administration’s immigration policies in court. He was promoted by the second Trump Administration to lead the defense of their immigration policies.”

“In his complaint, he recounted that Mr. Bove suggested that the Justice Department might need to say ‘F*** you’ to the federal courts and ignore federal court orders with which the Administration disagreed.”

“Mr. Bove’s actions in dismissing the corruption case against Eric Adams demonstrates that he is willing to pursue President Trump’s agenda without regard for the rule of law. Mr. Bove had no credible explanation for overruling several prosecutors—including the U.S. Attorney herself, a staunch conservative who clerked for Justice Scalia and was appointed by President Trump.”

“Mr. Bove succeeded in one thing yesterday—showing President Trump and this Committee that he is a true MAGA loyalist. His fidelity to the President’s cause even drew the Attorney General to our hearing. As the President ramps up his attacks against judges who rule against him, he has taken it upon himself to nominate loyalists who will rubberstamp his agenda.”

Key Durbin quotes on Ms. Hermandorfer’s nomination:

“Last month, President Trump announced Whitney Hermandorfer, [the] first judicial nominee of his second term. Shortly beforehand, the President demanded the impeachment of a federal judge who ruled against the Administration and called him ‘a Radical Left Lunatic, a troublemaker and agitator.’”

“President Trump’s inflammatory language is a part of his ongoing effort to intimidate the federal judiciary. And it also reveals what he values most in a judge. It’s not experience, temperament, or independence. What he values most is loyalty—and a willingness to rule in favor of him and his Administration. His nomination of Ms. Hermandorfer shows that he expects her to be a reliable ally on the Sixth Circuit for many years to come.”

“Ms. Hermandorfer’s record suggests that Mr. Trump has good reason for that expectation—her MAGA credentials are intact. In her current role, she has argued in support of the President’s unconstitutional executive order that purports to end birthright citizenship.”

“Ms. Hermandorfer has also signed briefs supporting the President’s efforts to fire inspectors general and heads of independent agencies. And, she has refused to acknowledge that President Trump lost the 2020 election. Moreover, Ms. Hermandorfer has repeatedly chosen to litigate other politically charged issues, including challenging anti-discrimination policies of the Biden Administration. She has strong ties to a range of right-wing organizations, including the Federalist Society and the Teneo network.”

“Although Ms. Hermandorfer’s record is extreme, it is very short. That’s a recurring theme in the first batch of [judicial] nominees. Ms. Hermandorfer graduated from law school in 2015, meaning she has less than 10 years of legal experience—and in light of the four years she spent as a law clerk, she only practiced law for six years and is headed to the appellate bench. That lack of experience is a serious concern as we consider her for a lifetime position.”

“In light of her inexperience, her partisan ideology, and her apparent willingness to support even the most lawless efforts of the Trump Administration, I will oppose her nomination.”

Key Durbin quotes on Mr. Bluestone’s nomination:

“He lacks the experience to serve in a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. He has more than six years of experience like the last nominee. He has seven—seven since he’s been out of law school, practicing law.”

“Lucky for him, the Justice Department under Attorney General Bondi now refuses to provide the American Bar Association with materials on nominees. The ABA stated that it could not issue a rating based on receiving insufficient information to evaluate this nominee. But it is obvious what they would have said had they been able to look at his record in full—he does not have the experience necessary to handle the demands of the federal bench.”

“It would be irresponsible to support this nomination. I urge my colleagues to vote no.”

Key Durbin quotes on Mr. Divine’s nomination:

“Josh Divine is 34 years old and we are getting more experience now—nine years since he left law school. He has taken extreme positions on reproductive rights and ballot access.”

“He has referred to himself as a ‘zealot’ for the anti-choice movement. This zealotry has been on full display in his role as Missouri Solicitor General. He has challenged women’s ability to access the drug mifepristone and has undermined the decision of Missouri voters to codify abortion access in their state constitution.”

“Previously, he wrote that ‘because we know a genetically unique human comes into existence at fertilization, abortion should not be ethically permitted.’ Taken at face value, it appears, although he wouldn’t answer the question when I asked him, that he opposes in vitro fertilization, or IVF.”

“Mr. Divine has also argued in favor of—get ready—reimposing literacy tests for voting. He argued that individuals who ‘aren’t informed about issues or platforms…have no business voting.’ Such tests are a racist relic of the Jim Crow era that were specifically used to prevent immigrants and minorities from casting ballots.”

“No one [who] believes that a racist Jim Crow law should be revived belongs on the federal bench. Period. I’ll be voting no.”

Key Durbin quotes on Ms. Lanahan’s nomination:

“Serving as Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Ms. Lanahan has been at the forefront of litigating cases on politically charged issues, including restricting access to reproductive rights.”

“Ms. Lanahan has served as counsel of record for Missouri in an effort to restrict access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortions, despite the fact that decades of peer-reviewed research has found it to be safe.”

“It is notable that she argued that Missouri has standing to bring this case because access to abortion medication is ‘depressing expected birth rates for teenaged mothers in Plaintiff States.’ She also claimed that Missouri would be injured because a loss of potential population would lead to ‘diminishment of political representation’ and ‘loss of federal funds.’ Those were her arguments. She argued in briefs that abortion medications are ‘dangerous drugs.’ She claimed in responses to written questions that she was unaware of more than 60 studies supporting FDA’s approval of mifepristone.”

“She refused to say who is entitled to protections under the First Amendment. She refused to say whether every individual in the United States is entitled to due process. She refused to say what the federal government lawyers’ duty of candor to the federal courts. Her refusal makes it easy for me to refuse my vote for Ms. Lanahan.”

Key Durbin quotes on Judge Stevens’ nomination:

“Judge Stevens wrote a law review article defending the infamous 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Given the well documented lack of justification for the crack cocaine sentencing disparity, its devastating impact on marginalized communities, and the harm it has caused to public trust in our justice system, I asked him whether he stood by this law review article today.”

“He claimed that he was merely citing the position of proponents of the sentencing disparity to justify his statement that ‘there even may be evidence to suggest that the sentencing provisions in fact are beneficial to black communities hardest hit by the crack epidemic.’ The record is clear: the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity has disproportionally impacted people of color, with 81 percent of those convicted of federal crack offenses from 2015 to 2019 being Black.”

“I led the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, a bipartisan compromise which reduced it from 100:1 to 18:1. In 2018, President Trump signed into law the First Step Act, which made the Fair Sentencing Act’s reduction retroactive. The fact that Judge Stevens continues to stand by an article that defends the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity is unbelievable.”

“I also asked Judge Stevens in written questions whether he denounced the January 6 insurrection. He responded… by saying the use of the word ‘insurrection’ drew a ‘legal conclusion’ and that it would be inappropriate for him to comment on a ‘highly contested political issue.’”

“The fact is that a violent mob ransacked the Capitol complex, and many of us witnessed it firsthand, in an actual attempt to obstruct the counting of the ballots in the electoral college that led to the deaths of five police officers and injuries to 140 other policemen. If Judge Stevens can’t acknowledge these basic facts and denounce the violence perpetrated against law enforcement that day, I can’t support his nomination.”

Video of Durbin’s statements is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s statements is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s statements is available here for TV Stations.

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