Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was expected to get another round of embarrassment from Senate Democrats, according to reports Friday.
President Donald Trump's former attorney and pick for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia has continued her role — despite calls for her to resign — while the Trump administration has pushed forward her nomination in the Senate, according to The Daily Beast.
Two Virginia senators were expected to block Halligan "using internal veto power by refusing to return a blue slip that indicates support for a home-state judicial nominee," Semafor reported.
Virginia Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have not said they would block her specifically, but Warner told Semafor it would be "very hard" for her to get approved.
A judge ruled in November that Halligan was never officially appointed to her position, ultimately dismissing the DOJ cases against former FBI director James Comey and Letitia James after finding her appointment was invalid. Trump's Justice Department tried again to indict James for a second time and failed Thursday after a grand jury in Virginia refused to return a fraud indictment against James.
Last week, three judges slammed Trump's Justice Department for keeping Lindsey Halligan's name on court documents. A district court judge and two magistrate judges in Alexandria, Virginia, said in an open court to prosecutors that they didn't think Halligan's name should be on any of the new criminal case filings, including guilty plea documents or indictments, following a decision last week that stated she is not the U.S. attorney.