WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator JD Vance (R-OH) stood firm on his pledge to hold nominees to the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ). Senator Vance originally announced his hold policy in June in response to the Biden DOJ’s unprecedented political prosecution of President Donald J. Trump.
In an objection to the latest effort by Senate Democrats to confirm a DOJ nominee by unanimous consent, Senator Vance issued the following remarks:
Senator Vance: “Mr. President, reserving the right to object. The Senator from Illinois knows well I cannot and will not give consent to the confirmation of new officials at the Department of Justice. My objection is not specific to the qualifications or the particular individuals that have been nominated. My objection is instead to the fact that we live in an era where the Department of Justice is used for politics as much as justice.
“And that’s unacceptable. The DOJ is and always has been defined by its most consequential investigations and prosecutions. This DOJ is thus defined by its selective prosecution of the leader of the opposition, the man running against Joe Biden to become President of the United States. Of course, I’m speaking of Donald Trump. Now, this unprecedented double standard, selectively prosecuting Donald Trump, leaving the President and his family completely untouched is a reason why the Department of Justice’s public confidence has completely collapsed.
“A recent NBC News survey showed that 35% of the American people approve of the Department of Justice, which is a radical decline from where it was just a couple of years ago. It is the constitutional duty of this body to provide advice and consent to high level DOJ nominees.
“My real fear here, I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be objecting to these nominees, but what I like much less is the fact that these nominees will be used by the Attorney General for politics over justice. Now, my colleague might say, and he might say this to Senator Tuberville, who has a similar hold on Department of Justice nominees, that this is extraordinary, that what we are doing as Republicans in objecting to the unanimous consent of these nominations is extraordinary.
“And I agree it’s extraordinary. But what’s more extraordinary is this moment in time where the leader of the opposition is being prosecuted by the President of the United States. and the Department of Justice again, and again, and again, is using its powers to go after people from pro-life activists to members of the community who are just exercising their rights. Mr. President, I would love to live in a country where the Department of Justice does not engage in selective prosecution.
“I would very much like if the Department of Justice focused on the work of law enforcement instead of politics. Until it does, I will object to these nominations, I will object to giving unanimous consent, and on these. Mr. President, I object.”
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