“Judges shouldn’t be anyone’s people. They aren’t supposed to advance policy preferences. They aren’t part of Congress or the executive branch.”
Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Thursday, June 26, 2025
On today’s agenda, we have seven nominations.
The nomination of Kurt Wall to be U.S. Attorney is listed for the first time and will be held over.
We’ll vote today on Whitney Hermandorfer, nominee to be a circuit judge on the Sixth Circuit, Joshua Divine to be a district judge on the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, and Zachary Bluestone, Maria Lanahan and Cristian Stevens to be district judges on the Eastern District of Missouri.
We’ll also vote on U.S. Attorney nominees, including Bart Davis for the District of Idaho and David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
This Congress, I’ve heard my Democratic colleagues relentlessly and unfairly attack Trump’s nominees as simply the president’s lawyers.
We heard the same yesterday.
No matter how the nominees answer, my colleagues seem to have already made their minds up. No answer appears to be satisfactory.
In light of this common refrain, I was surprised by what was said on Monday, at the Democrats’ own partisan spotlight hearing.
In the Senate Minority Leader’s remarks, he boasted that Democrats put “progressive judges” on the bench.
He boasted about their rulings against the Trump administration, and he said, “Our people are the first line of defense.”
Let me say that again.
“Our people.”
The hypocrisy of the other side attacking nominees as beholden to Trump, when their own leader says he basically owns their nominees, is breathtaking.
Judges shouldn’t be anyone’s people.
They aren’t supposed to advance policy preferences. They aren’t part of Congress or the executive branch.
They’re part of a separate branch of government, insulated from politics and policymaking, and they must be dedicated to following the rule of law – whether they agree with the outcome or not.
That’s what I expect of judges, regardless of the party or the president who appointed them.
Democrats have also repeatedly brought up the issue of following court orders. This dispute is a made-up one.
Everyone agrees that lawful court orders should be obeyed, and President Trump and his administration have done so.
But do you know who actually did ignore a court order?
Judge Murphy – the Democrat-nominated judge confirmed in a lame-duck session last year. He defied a Supreme Court ruling and continued enforcing related orders anyway.
Fortunately, our nominees today have a different perspective.
They’re dedicated to the rule of law and committed to the Constitution, and I’m confident they’ll abide by binding decisions of higher courts.
Last Congress, according to the Chairman at the time, over 80 percent of President Biden’s nominees were advanced on a bipartisan basis.
I hope we have the same bipartisan support today, because we’ve got some truly excellent and well-qualified nominees.
Whitney Hermandorfer, nominated to the Sixth Circuit, demonstrated why she’s been widely praised.
Similarly, the district court nominees also have excellent credentials and experience, and performed well in their hearing.
All these nominees have demonstrated the commitment to the rule of law and judicial independence that are essential in our constitutional system.
I’ll be voting for all of them, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
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