Six Republican senators led by Sen. JD Vance vowed to block the fast-tracking of key President Biden judicial nominees in protest of former President Donald Trump’s “persecution.”
The blockade encompasses Article III court judicial nominees as well as US attorney nominations, and any “nominees who have suggested the Trump prosecutions were reasonable.”
“This … will last until Election Day when the American people will have the opportunity to decisively reject attempts to settle political disputes through the legal system,” the senators declared in a joint statement.
“While it is not our intent to bring any single nominee into disrepute, if our rights are challenged on the floor of the US Senate, we will prosecute a forceful public case using all the tools at our disposal.”
The six signatories are Sens. Vance (R-Ohio), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Michael Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)
The group unveiled a working list of about 44 Biden picks who will be subject to the sprawling blackball on fast-tracking nomination approvals.
The announcement came just ahead of Trump’s trek to Capitol Hill where he huddled with Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club and National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Vance is rumored to be high up in the running to be Trump’s vice president and has publicly confirmed that he has complied with additional vetting from the former president’s team.
Last December, Tuberville ended a nearly 11-month blockade of military promotions and nominations in protest over the Pentagon’s murky policy of footing transportation bills for servicewomen to receive abortions.
That blanket hold riled Democrats and even drew consternation from Republicans who fretted about the potential damage that blockade could have on military readiness.
This latest move from these six Republicans threatens to scuttle Biden’s break-neck race to push through his judicial picks. Last month, the Senate confirmed the 200th federal judge of Biden’s presidency — meaning he has outpaced Trump.
Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts in his hush money indictment on May 30 and has vowed to appeal the verdict. Sentencing is slated for July 11.
A cacophony of Republicans erupted in rage once news of that conviction broke. Biden has dubbed his rival a “convicted felon.”
On Thursday, a group of 29 Republican senators, including all six who vowed to support the nominating blockade, penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland admonishing Trump’s conviction as the “evisceration of the American judicial process.”
“Alvin Bragg, a New York State prosecutor, has no jurisdiction to enforce federal election law and the federal government would never tolerate a state prosecutor infringing upon its FECA [Federal Election Campaign Act] jurisdiction — unless the defendant is Donald Trump,” they wrote.
“Rather than call out prosecutors for carrying out the political persecution of Donald Trump, President Biden defended the case.”
Republicans in Congress have been scrambling to find legislative ways to help Trump with his plethora of legal woes, including the exploration of legislation that would permit him to move state cases to the federal level.
Menawhile, on Tuesday, Biden’s son Hunter was found guilty on all three counts of illegal possession of a firearm while addicted to illicit drugs.
Read More: Republican senators vow to hamstring Biden’s judicial nominees over Trump ‘persecution’
