Good news for President Donald Trump and former Fox News star Jeanine Pirro.
Judge Jeanine Pirro moved one step closer to permanent appointment as Washington D.C.’s top federal prosecutor Thursday after Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans voted to advance her nomination.
The Republican-controlled committee voted in favor of Pirro’s nomination during a session that Democrats boycotted as a protest against Emil Bove’s nomination for the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Democrats argue Bove is unfit for the federal appeals court.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley proceeded with votes despite the Democratic walkout, successfully advancing Pirro and four other nominees. After consultation with the Senate Parliamentarian, the committee relisted the nominees for Thursday’s vote.
Trump appointed Pirro to serve as acting U.S. attorney in May, making her the latest Fox News personality to receive a position in his administration. She had been a host on Fox News’ “The Five,” the top-rated show on cable television news.
“Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself,” Trump said on his Truth Social media platform.
Pirro brings extensive prosecutorial experience to the role. She served as the elected district attorney for Westchester County, New York, for three consecutive terms from 1994 to 2005. During her tenure, she started the first domestic violence unit within a U.S. prosecutorial office, according to her Justice Department biography. She also served as a county judge starting in 1990 before her district attorney career.
The D.C. U.S. attorney position carries particular significance as it handles prosecutions for the nation’s top government officials. The office prosecuted well over 1,000 defendants accused of crimes during the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Trump granted clemency to all January 6 defendants on his first day back in office.
Pirro would replaced Ed Martin, whose nomination Trump withdrew after facing opposition from Senator Thom Tillis. At her swearing-in ceremony for the interim role, Pirro described Trump as remaining “steadfast as one of my earliest supporters and champions.”
Democrats have mounted fierce opposition to her nomination. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin wrote on X Wednesday that Pirro was “a January 6 apologist, siding with violent insurrectionists over law enforcement by supporting criminal charges against line prosecutors handling insurrection-related cases. She’s an election denialist, recklessly peddling President Trump’s Big Lie despite even her own Fox News producers and executives warning her to reel it in.”
Durbin warned that Pirro would be a “Trump loyalist, vengefully attacking his perceived political opponents and showing no willingness to put the rule of law ahead of the President’s wishes.”
Republicans defended Pirro’s qualifications and prosecutorial record. Senator Lindsey Graham praised her nomination, saying she will focus on reducing crime in the nation’s capital.
This week, Pirro demonstrated her willingness to take aggressive legal action by filing a lawsuit against three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. She claims Tom Rothman, Laura Ross, and Diane Kaplan have continued serving on the board despite Trump firing them.
“The President legally removed three board members of Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They sued to stay,” Pirro wrote on X. “The court ruled against them and yet they ignored the court decision and stayed. It’s time for them to go!!”
The CPB has challenged Trump’s dismissals in federal court. While a judge turned down the corporation’s request to immediately block the firings, the court also noted that Trump could not fire some of the members of the board after recent bylaw changes restricted presidential actions.
The committee vote sets up a confirmation battle for Pirro in the full Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority.