Democrats seethe as committee advances Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove to appeals court seat

Republicans powered the nomination of Emil Bove to be a federal appeals-court judge through the committee on Thursday, brushing aside Democrats’ vehement complaints that President Trump’s former defense lawyer is unfit for the post.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley gaveled the vote closed and announced Mr. Bove’s nomination will move to the Senate even as Democrats walked out in protest — and suggested the vote itself was invalid.

“This is a kangaroo court!” shouted Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, while fellow Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called the vote “insane.”

But Mr. Grassley said Mr. Bove is now poised for a final vote by the full Senate, which would confirm him to a lifetime judgeship on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Bove’s advancement through the committee is the latest evidence of Mr. Trump’s legislative strength, having barreled over complaints from even some conservative figures who said Mr. Bove is little more than a Trump crony.

All Republicans on the committee backed Mr. Bove, including Sen. Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican who earlier this year sank Mr. Trump’s pick for top federal prosecutor in Washington.

Mr. Grassley defended Mr. Bove as having a “strong legal background” and said the “vicious partisan attacks” seeking to derail him were an attempt to defeat a high-profile Trump nominee.

“What we’re witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job timed for maximum media splash with minimum substance,” the Iowa Republican said.

Mr. Bove served on Mr. Trump’s personal defense team and then took a position as a high official at the Justice Department in the new administration.

Democrats say that, as acting deputy attorney general, he led a quid pro quo to dismiss federal criminal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for Mr. Adams providing better cooperation with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement.

And a fired Justice Department lawyer has accused Mr. Bove of demanding the government defy a judge’s orders trying to halt deportation flights.

Mr. Bove has denied both accusations, but Democrats on Thursday demanded the committee hold a hearing with the fired lawyer to air out the matter.

Mr. Grassley refused and pressed ahead with the vote, sparking a Senate conflagration.

“This is out of order. This undermines the basic decency of this committee,” Mr. Booker said.

He tried to invoke a committee rule that he said should have allowed Democrats to demand a vote on whether to postpone action and hear from the fired lawyer.

Mr. Grassley suggested Democrats were trying to delay the vote long enough to force the committee to shut down, and he plowed ahead with the tally even as Mr. Booker talked over him.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said he couldn’t recall a precedent for the blow-up in his 25 years of watching judicial confirmations.

“It was an incredible breach of decorum and collegiality and everything the Senate stands for,” he said.

He said Republicans who in the past might have defied Mr. Trump have been cowed into submission.

“The dynamic that he’s created is just one where senators cross him at their peril in the Republican Party, because the threat is ’you don’t follow what I want then I’ll primary you,’” he said.

Democrats threw a host of objections on Thursday against Mr. Bove, including demanding to know what involvement he had in decisions concerning the release of deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein’s records.

But the biggest complaints stemmed from Erez Reuveni, the fired Justice Department lawyer who claimed Mr. Bove urged the government to defy a federal judge who tried to halt the controversial deportation flights to El Salvador in March.

During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Bove denied telling government officials to defy a judge but said he couldn’t recall if he urged the administration to “ignore” the judge.

Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Mr. Reuveni provided documents to back up his claims, but Mr. Grassley said he’s looked at the same materials and found them unpersuasive.

Mr. Bove can be confirmed on the Senate floor by a majority vote.

Democrats used the so-called “nuclear option” to end filibusters of appeals court nominees in 2013 so they could push some of then-President Obama’s picks onto the circuit court in Washington.

That came back to bite them during Mr. Trump’s first term, when he made more than 200 judicial appointments.

The Senate earlier this week voted to confirm the first of his picks this term, backing Whitney Hermandorfer in a party-line vote for a seat on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Tobias said there were six appeals court vacancies when Mr. Trump came into office, but he may not get many others.

Some appellate judges have shown a reluctance to give up their seats as long as Mr. Trump is the one picking their replacements, he said.