WASHINGTON – An Ohio Republican senator, angered over the federal prosecution of ex-President Donald Trump, is blocking a confirmation vote for April Perry to be the next U.S. Attorney in Chicago.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday sent the nomination of Perry to the Senate floor on a 12-9 mainly party line vote, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. the only Republican aye.
The hold by Sen. J.D. Vance has nothing to do specifically with Perry, who if confirmed, would be the first woman to hold the post.
Perry currently is a senior counsel for Global Investigations and Fraud and Abuse Prevention at GE HealthCare in the Loop. She was a federal prosecutor in Chicago from 2004 until 2016. From 2017 until 2019, she served as chief ethics officer for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
Confirmation votes for non-controversial nominees used to be routine
Usually confirmation votes for U.S. attorneys come a few weeks after being advanced out of committee.
By tradition, there are no individual votes because the nominees for these law enforcement posts are not controversial. Very often nominees are combined with others and are confirmed on a voice vote or by unanimous consent.
Having votes on individual nominees is time consuming under Senate procedures. However, that routine practice has exposed an Achilles heel — the power of one senator to throw up a blockade.
GOP holds on military, Justice Department nominees
In February, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., put a “hold” on all Department of Defense general and flag officer nominations over his opposition to Pentagon abortion policy. Tuberville objects to military members and their dependents being covered for abortion related expenses. Hundred of routine promotions have been blocked.
In June, Vance, a freshman senator who is best known as the author “Hillbilly Elegy,” announced he would hold all Justice Department nominees hostage, using the power each senator has to place what is called a “procedural hold” on confirmation votes.
Vance said in a statement he was doing so because of the “unprecedented political prosecution” of Trump, as he took aim at Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees the Justice Department.
Vance’s move came after Trump’s June federal indictment in the classified documents case in Florida. Trump is accused of illegally keeping documents he took with him from the White House, and obstructing Justice Department attempts to retrieve the materials.
“Trump is merely the latest victim of a Department of Justice that cares more about politics than law enforcement,” Vance said, vowing to “grind (Garland’s) department to a halt.”
At the hearing, Durbin said Perry’s confirmation vote will be “blocked by the junior Senator from Ohio. He is concerned about the fact that a former President has been indicted and said he wants to, quote, grind the Department of Justice to a halt.”
Durbin added, “I would urge my colleagues, find another way to protest rather than to stop the Department of Justice from keeping us safe.”
Federal prosecutions still humming along in Chicago
Chicago’s most recent U.S. attorney search lasted about eight months, from the March 2017 resignation of Zachary Fardon to the November 2017 Senate confirmation of John Lausch. The previous search, ending in Fardon’s confirmation in October 2013, lasted 16 months after the departure of Patrick Fitzgerald in June 2012.
It has now been six months since Lausch formally resigned from the office Perry has been nominated to fill.
The office of U.S. attorney is crucial — one of the most powerful in Illinois. Still, the feds have enjoyed a string of successes under the leadership of Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual, a 33-year veteran of the office.
Among them are convictions of six people at three public corruption trials. Jurors in those cases sided with the feds in every count. Another corruption trial is set to begin in November, when former Ald. Edward M. Burke is faces racketeering charges.
