Grassley accuses Durbin of 'playing politics' by blocking confirmations of US attorney nominees

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Friday accused the top ranking Democrat on the committee, Dick Durbin, of "playing politics" after he decided to block the swift confirmation of a U.S. attorney nominee while threatening to continue blocking other of President Trump's U.S. attorney nominees.

Durbin derailed the Trump administration's hopes of quickly confirming U.S. attorney nominations this week, by announcing he would block the confirmation of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida nominee Jason Reding Quiñones.

The Illinois Democrat claimed he was pulling a page from Vice President JD Vance's playbook from when he was an Ohio senator. Vance placed a hold on multiple Biden administration US attorney nominees toward the end of the administration.

“There is now a new precedent for roll call votes on the Floor for confirming U.S. Attorney nominees,” Durbin said. “As I’ve said time and time again—there cannot be one set of rules for Republicans and another set for Democrats.”

Durbin is currently using the block on just Quiñones, but threatened to use it on other nominees as well.

Grassley rejected the comparison, stating that the senator was "playing politics," and Vance did not set a new precedent. 

“Placing a blanket hold on all U.S. Attorney nominees before the Trump administration has filled even a single one of the 93 Attorneys’ Offices would constitute an aggressive, unprecedented attack on the American criminal justice system,” Grassley said in a statement.

“Holds should be used selectively,” he continued. “Blanket holds intended to wholly obstruct the confirmation process are misguided and threaten to undermine the Senate’s advice and consent role.”

The senator added that he hopes Durbin will reverse course and work with Senate Republicans to confirm the nominees.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.