Judiciary Committee has advanced 84 Trump nominees in 2025, including six circuit judges, 24 district judges and 36 U.S. Attorneys.
Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Executive Business Meeting
Thursday, December 11, 2025
On today’s agenda, we have seven nominations listed.
We’ll vote today on all seven, including three district judges: Nicholas Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas, David Clay Fowlkes for the Western District of Arkansas and Aaron Christian Peterson for the District of Alaska.
We’ll also vote on Darin Smith, Andrew Benson, William Boyle and Richard Price to be U.S. Attorneys.
I look forward to supporting each of these nominees, and I urge my colleagues to join me.
The CLEAR Path Act is listed on our agenda for the first time today, and we’ll hold it over for future consideration.
To begin, and as we enter this holiday season, it’s important that we remember someone who isn’t with us – Specialist Sarah Beckman.
Specialist Beckman joined the National Guard to protect our country.
She volunteered to serve on Thanksgiving so other service-members could be home with their families. While working to keep us all safe, she was killed in a horrific ambush.
Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was also seriously injured during the attack, and he remains in recovery.
These two servicemembers were part of an effort to keep our cities and our Capitol safe. Our prayers and gratitude for their sacrifice are with them and their families
As we approach the end of 2025, I also want to recognize what this Committee has achieved this year.
So far, we’ve conducted more than 50 Committee and Subcommittee hearings.
We’ve held dozens of markups, and we’ve favorably reported 23 bills.
The Committee has also been quickly and efficiently processing nominations.
After this morning’s meeting, we’ll have voted on 84 nominees including the Attorney General, the FBI Director, six circuit judges, 24 district judges and 36 United States Attorneys.
We’ve advanced judicial nominees as fast as our Committee receives them, and we’ve confirmed more federal judges at this point than President Trump did in his first administration.
The Heritage Foundation recently reported that our Committee has held hearings for 96% of the judicial nominations it has received, which is higher than for any new president since 1980.
I’d like to process even more judicial nominees, but I’m waiting on the President to submit nominations.
Likewise, our Committee has processed U.S. Attorneys quickly and efficiently.
Despite relentless and unprecedented obstruction by the Democrats, we’ve reported more U.S. Attorneys out of Committee than the Biden Administration did at this point, and we’re confirming them at roughly the same rate.
As with judicial nominees, I’d like to process even more U.S. Attorneys, but I’m hamstrung waiting for background investigations and other paperwork from the administration that the Committee needs to advance the nominees we haven’t moved already.
In short, the Judiciary Committee has been hard at work advancing quality nominees and getting them to work for the American people.
As I’ve noted before, a recent nonpartisan study found that judges nominated by President Trump have outperformed those of other recent administrations in terms of productivity, quality and independence.
I look forward to that continued trend, and to advancing more excellent nominees in the coming year.
On another matter, I’d like to discuss this Committee’s invitation to Secretary Noem to appear for an oversight hearing.
I invited Secretary Noem to testify on December 2nd and then on December 10th. She declined both invitations. DHS has failed to provide alternative dates.
During her confirmation process, Secretary Noem committed to appearing before this Committee when invited.
I expect better cooperation from the Secretary early next year.
Next, I want to provide an update on a classified DHS Inspector General report.
That report was on covert testing of TSA’s checkpoint security screening.
Originally, DHS restricted access to this report to me as President Pro Tempore, Chairman Rand Paul and the Speaker of the House.
I demanded that committees of jurisdiction, in both Houses of Congress, have access to this report. I’ve been told that’s been done.
That included my Democratic colleagues, such as Ranking Member Durbin, and this Committee.
The Inspector General report raises serious issues.
Because of that, I’ve asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct a review of TSA’s security screening process.
To date, DHS proper has not granted GAO possession of the Inspector General report. I expect Secretary Noem to iron this out.
Lastly, I want to turn to Arctic Frost.
This week, I announced that I’ve activated and authorized four subcommittees as part of my and Senator Johnson’s investigation.
Starting in January, we’ll begin oversight hearings in those subcommittees that will also include at least one full committee hearing on the matter.
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