Joe diGenova, former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and Victoria Toensing, a former senior official at the Department of Justice, told Newsmax on Wednesday they are outraged that U.S. attorneys are not being confirmed by the Senate.
"It's disgusting," Toensing said on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
President Donald Trump has criticized Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for adhering to the Senate's "blue slip" tradition, which lets home-state senators block prosecutorial and judicial nominees from advancing.
The blue slip tradition has gotten scrutiny from Republicans after Alina Habba was appointed in March to serve as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, but the Garden State's two Democrats in the Senate indicated they would block her confirmation.
Habba announced this week that she was stepping down.
Toensing said she couldn't believe only three U.S. attorneys had been confirmed.
"Joe Biden had 31. Now [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune can take care of this," Toensing said.
Thune, Toensing said, has 53 votes.
"He should say, 'we're not going home for Christmas or New Year's until you confirm these U.S. attorneys,'" she said.
Trump has complained that Senate Democrats will object to any nomination.
"If I put up George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to be U.S. attorney in New Jersey, or to be U.S. attorney in Virginia, we have Democrat senators [who] will not approve them," Trump said.
"And this is a gentleman's agreement that's lasted for too long. ... I hope that somebody speaks to Senator Grassley about doing something about the blue slip because I'm telling you, I put up great people, top people, highest education, the best lawyers to be U.S. attorney, and both senators," Trump added.
"It only takes one, but if they're Democrat senators, they say we're not going to approve it."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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