The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance Jeanine Pirro’s nomination as federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia to the Senate floor.
The committee attempted to vote on Pirro’s nomination last week, but the meeting ended after a partisan breakdown in which Democrats walked out after Republicans voted to cut off debate to force a vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the federal bench, Emil Bove.
“This may have been the result of miscommunicated intentions between our sides but this isn’t a good way for this committee to operate,” Sen. Chuck Grassley said Thursday of the blow-up.
The Iowa Republican said he intended for discussions to continue “as long as needed,” but he was surprised with a motion from his Republican colleagues to force the vote.
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With Democrats present Thursday, the committee voted 12-10 along party lines to advance Pirro to a vote before the full Senate.
Pirro did not appear before the committee — which is not unusual for a U.S. attorney nominee — but submitted responses to a written list of questions in which she seemed to distance herself from her previous statements condemning the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. In her response, Pirro also wrote that she was not aware Trump had granted “full and unconditional” pardons for nearly all of the rioters.
The former Fox News host has been serving as the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia on an interim basis since May, when she took over the reins from Ed Martin, who was nominated by Trump in January.
Martin, a former Missouri Republican county chair, struggled to gain support in the Senate after a series of controversial comments resurfaced.
In 2022 Martin, who supported Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, compared former President Joe Biden to Adolf Hitler on an episode of his podcast.
Senate Democrats also accused Martin of dodging questions about his past support for a Nazi sympathizer named Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who appeared on Martin’s podcast several times.
In a written responses to senators, Martin steered clear of questions into his thoughts on the Jan. 6 insurrection, saying his relationship with the rioters did not go beyond his role as defense attorney for three of them.
Trump ultimately withdrew Martin’s nomination after Sen. Thom Tillis said he couldn’t support the nominee, likely dooming his chances.
He was later named U.S. pardon attorney and director of the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group.
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