Senate advances DOJ picks despite complaints from Democrats

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a slate of President Donald Trump’s nominees to a handful of Justice Department roles, including an appointee who would lead the office tasked with drafting the attorney general’s legal opinions.

Democrats meanwhile continued their push to frame the White House’s Justice Department picks as nakedly partisan and loyal primarily to the president, rather than to the agency or the rule of law.

The upper chamber’s judicial affairs panel voted 12-10, along party lines, to advance T. Elliot Gaiser’s nomination for assistant attorney general and head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. The committee in a similar 12-10 vote approved Stanley Woodward, tapped by the Trump administration as an associate attorney general.

Democrats were predictably unenthusiastic about Woodward and Gaiser’s nominations.

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse — pointing to years of Republican accusations of “weaponization” at President Joe Biden’s Justice Department — contended that Trump and the GOP had set the stage for a “MAGA DOJ that is actually weaponized.”

The Democrat said Woodward and Gaiser were emblematic of that effort.

Whitehouse also slammed Gaiser in particular as “completely unqualified” for his proposed role.

“Why would you want to put in somebody who is completely unqualified for the Office of Legal Counsel?” he opined. “The same reason you would put in somebody who is completely unqualified for the office of EPA general counsel — you put somebody in who knows they’re unqualified for their job, and so they’ll do whatever they’re told, whatever they’re asked.”

Both Woodward and Gaiser have close ties to Trump. Before he was tapped for the associate attorney general role, Woodward was a legal adviser to the president and as an attorney represented a score of Trump allies including Walt Nauta, Peter Navarro and FBI Director Kash Patel. He also represented defendants in cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Gaiser, currently Ohio’s solicitor general, also served as Trump’s legal counsel during his 2020 presidential campaign. Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany testified in 2023 that Gaiser had raised a theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence could overturn Biden’s election victory by refusing to certify the results in Congress.

During a hearing before the Judiciary Committee last month, Woodward and Gaiser faced sharp questions from Democrats about their willingness to put the Justice Department ahead of their loyalty to the president. Lawmakers pressed the nominees on whether they would advise the White House to ignore lawful rulings from federal courts.

Woodward told Democrats at the time that he could not imagine a circumstance under which he would need to give Trump such advice.

“I’ve had the great privilege of working with President Trump for many years now, and I just don’t ever imagine a circumstance in which I would be called upon to give advice of that nature,” Woodward testified. He did not, however, rule out the possibility that the White House could ignore a court ruling, telling Whitehouse that the “nature and circumstances” of such a decision would come into play.

Gaiser dodged similar questions during his own testimony, telling Louisiana Senator John Kennedy that he would advise a client “how best to comply” with a court order, and later told California Senator Adam Schiff that he would “advise clients to follow applicable court orders,” but would not respond to a follow-up.

Democrats have repeatedly hammered Trump’s Justice Department nominees on their willingness to defy the president on issues related to federal court rulings. The White House and its allies have fiercely criticized judges that have hamstrung its expensive executive agenda, branding them as political activists and in some cases calling for Congress to impeach them.

Meanwhile, the Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a trio of other White House nominees, including Joseph Edlow, tapped by the Trump administration to direct the Homeland Security Department’s citizenship and immigration services division.

Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono skewered Edlow’s nomination, tying him to the controversial Project 2025 policy plan which laid out suggestions for the second Trump administration’s agenda ahead of the 2024 election. Project 2025, she argued, includes proposals aimed at paring down legal immigration and formally ending the government’s embattled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, immigration provision.

“Mr. Edlow’s past public statements make clear he opposes DACA, and in his responses to questions for the record, he refused to commit to reinstating DACA applications despite the clear legal ability to do so if he is confirmed,” said Hirono, adding that if he is confirmed she expected him to do “everything in his power” to eliminate the provision altogether.

Edlow cleared the Judiciary Committee on another 12-10, party line vote.

The panel on Thursday also approved John Squires, nominated to be undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and to direct the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Squires enjoyed bipartisan support, passing the committee by a 20-2 margin.

Ronald Parsons, tapped by the Trump administration to become U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota, cleared the committee by voice vote. Four Democrats, however, were entered into the panel’s records as “no” votes.

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