Lawmakers clash over key block that 'threatens to undermine the Senate'

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is employing a tactic previously used by the GOP as he holds up the confirmation process for one of President Donald Trump U.S. attorney nominees, according to Politico.

The ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced this week that he was putting a hold on Jason Reding Quiñones's nomination for the Southern District of Florida, and might do the same with other Trump nominees.

"In doing so, Durbin would create a procedural hurdle that would likely slow Quiñones’ confirmation at a time when the Trump administration has yet to confirm any U.S. attorney nominees in the Senate," the article said.

Durbin likened his tactics "to those deployed by Vice President JD Vance, back when he was a Republican senator from Ohio," the report said.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

"At that time, Vance put a hold on a number of Biden-era U.S. attorney nominees, vowing he would do so for every Department of Justice nominee in the wake of the department’s second indictment against President Donald Trump."

Durbin told the Senate on Thursday, “[T]here is now a new precedent for roll call votes on the Floor for confirming U.S. Attorney nominees. As I’ve said time and time again—there cannot be one set of rules for Republicans and another set for Democrats.”

Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) refuted the claim that Vance "set a new precedent when he put the holds on attorney nominees toward the end of the Biden administration."

In a statement, Grassley admonished that “Placing a blanket hold on all U.S. Attorney nominees before the Trump administration has filled even a single one of the 93 Attorneys’ Offices would constitute an aggressive, unprecedented attack on the American criminal justice system."

Grassley continued, “Holds should be used selectively. Blanket holds intended to wholly obstruct the confirmation process are misguided and threaten to undermine the Senate’s advice and consent role.”

Read the Politico article here.