BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued the following statement regarding Ranking Member Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) intent to place a hold on Jason Reding Quinones, President Donald Trump’s nominee for United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and, potentially, future Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney nominees.
“I’m disappointed the Ranking Member is playing politics to filibuster Quinones’ nomination and possibly many other U.S. Attorney nominees. As the Ranking Member himself has noted, U.S. Attorneys are responsible for ‘the prosecution of violent criminals, tracking down fugitives and protecting Americans.’ Make no mistake: the ‘precedent’ the Ranking Member claims then-Senator Vance set does not exist. Vance’s holds were limited to a small number of U.S. Attorney nominees in the latter half of the Biden administration. Placing a blanket hold on all U.S. Attorney nominees before the Trump administration has filled even a single one of the 93 Attorneys’ Offices would constitute an aggressive, unprecedented attack on the American criminal justice system.
“Holds should be used selectively. Blanket holds intended to wholly obstruct the confirmation process are misguided and threaten to undermine the Senate’s advice and consent role. I hope the Ranking Member will rethink his approach and work with me to confirm President Trump’s U.S. Attorney nominees, as I’ve done in good faith under both Republican and Democrat presidents.”
-30-