WASHINGTON — For the fourth time, Ohio GOP Sen. J.D. Vance on Wednesday objected to a move by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to immediately confirm U.S. attorney nominees based in Chicago and Cleveland.
With shifting reasons, Vance, a freshman best known as the author of the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” has been blocking the confirmations of April Perry, nominated to be U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Rebecca Lutzko, tapped to be the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
“Each time I’ve come to the floor to ask,” Durbin said, Vance “has come up with a different explanation for why he’s blocking their confirmation.”
Lutzko has been the interim U.S. attorney since June in a district covering Cleveland, Toledo, Akron and Youngstown.
Vance, at the start of this showdown, blocked the confirmation of four U.S. attorney nominees. He relented on two of them last Friday, letting the Senate hold roll call votes to confirm Todd Gee to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi and Tara McGrath to be U.S attorney for the Southern District of California.
Two weeks ago, Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, started going to the Senate floor to ask for immediate confirmation of the federal prosecutor nominees by a procedure known as “unanimous consent,” which saves the Senate time compared to what it takes to put a roll call vote in place.
An individual senator has the power to put a hold on a nominee and prevent confirmation by unanimous consent.
Vance initially said he was holding the four to protest the Justice Department’s indictments against former President Donald Trump. After he relented on Gee and McGrath, he said other senators besides himself had a hold on Perry, though Durbin said that turned out not to be true.
Vance attacked Perry for working for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx during the controversy surrounding Foxx over her handling of alleged hate crimes case against actor Jussie Smollet.
On Wednesday, Vance said his hold on Perry and Lutzko was about more than Trump.
He made a false claim against President Joe Biden when he said, “I do think it’s preposterous banana republic stuff that the President of the United States has tried to throw his opponent in jail in the middle of a presidential election. But this isn’t just about Donald Trump.
“This is about a pro-life father of seven who was harassed and arrested in front of his children, like a common criminal. This is about parents who were investigated by the FBI for peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights at school board meetings. This is about a Department of Justice that seems far more interested in politics than in justice. And so long as that is true, Senator, I will certainly continue to implement my hold policy.”
Vance did go on to ask Durbin to hold a roll call vote. It’s not certain if Vance would lift his hold were Durbin to take steps to hold a roll call vote.
Durbin noted that even if the Justice Department were not pursuing Trump, the former president would still be facing criminal charges filed by a state prosecutor in Georgia and defending himself in a New York state courtroom on business fraud charges.
April Perry has instead been nominated to the federal bench. But it’s beyond disgraceful that Vance, a Trump acolyte, used the Senate’s complex rules to block Perry from becoming the first woman in the top federal prosecutor’s job for the Northern District of Illinois.
The White House on Wednesday will officially announce Biden’s intention to nominate April Perry to be a U.S. District Court judge. For months, the effort to confirm Perry as Chicago’s new U.S. Attorney was stalled by Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio.
President Joe Biden nominated Perry in June 2023 to replace former U.S. Attorney John Lausch. But she has since waited eight months to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, longer than the last eight men to hold the position — with no end in sight.
In effect, Ohio’s Sen. Vance, by blocking the appointment of April Perry to be U.S. attorney based in Chicago, is helping the kinds of dangerous criminals the Justice Department chases.
Offering shifting stories, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio is blocking the confirmation of April Perry and Rebecca Lutzko, tapped to be the U.S. attorneys in Chicago and Cleveland, respectively.
By Lynn Sweet
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
It appears Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, isn’t dealing in good faith, given shifting explanations for denying April Perry a vote to be Chicago’s next U.S. attorney, Lynn Sweet writes.
By Lynn Sweet
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The senator or senators who are blocking a confirmation vote for April Perry aren’t known. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said he’d lift his hold on Perry if she got an up-or-down vote.
By Lynn Sweet
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Sens. Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer sharply criticized both Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, who has been preventing a vote on April Perry and three other U.S. attorney nominees, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who has been holding up military promotions.
By Lynn Sweet
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is scorching Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, the “Hillbilly Elegy” author, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. for their holds on military and Justice Department nominees.
By Lynn Sweet
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance plans to block the vote on Perry’s nomination to be U.S. attorney based in Chicago, as well as holds on other Justice Department appointments, because he’s angry about investigations into Donald Trump.
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, best known as the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” said he will put all Department of Justice nominees on hold because of his objection to the federal prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
Many former federal prosecutors who served in that office, including me, believe it was high time, if not long overdue, for a woman or minority to be nominated for the top post in the Northern District of Illinois, a former federal prosecutor writes.
By Letters to the Editor
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Biden’s nomination of Perry reflects an effort to diversify the ranks of the nation’s federal judges and prosecutors.
If either Sergio Acosta or April Perry are picked to be the next U.S. attorney in Chicago, it will be the first time a non-white male has held the job.
By Lynn Sweet
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
