Senate Panel Advances Trump’s Justice Department Nominees

The Senate Judiciary Committee has moved forward with President Donald Trump’s nominees for two high-ranking positions within the Justice Department, positioning them for likely confirmation, according to Bloomberg. The committee, which is controlled by a Republican majority, voted Thursday to advance Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general and Gail Slater as head of the antitrust division.

Blanche, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who previously served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney, was approved along party lines and will now face a full Senate vote. If confirmed, he would take on the role of the Justice Department’s second-in-command at a time of significant restructuring and leadership changes within the agency, per Bloomberg. His nomination hearing drew scrutiny from Democratic senators, particularly over his involvement in collecting names of FBI agents tied to investigations concerning the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Read more: Trump Administration Overhauls Justice Department Under Acting Deputy AG Emil Bove

Meanwhile, Slater’s nomination received bipartisan support, with the committee voting 20-2 in her favor. Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii opposed her advancement. Slater, who previously served as an economic policy adviser to Vice President JD Vance when he was a senator, brings over a decade of experience at the Federal Trade Commission and has held policy roles at Fox Corp. and Roku Inc.

During her confirmation hearing, Slater refrained from commenting on several ongoing Justice Department cases involving major tech companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple Inc. However, she is generally regarded as having policy positions that align with President Joe Biden’s antitrust enforcers, particularly in matters concerning Big Tech, according to Bloomberg.

Source: Bloomberg