Senate Democrats appear likely to deal another blow to Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
A federal judge has ruled that Trump illegally appointed Halligan as interim U.S. attorney and dismissed her case against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Her predecessor, veteran prosecutor Eric Siebert, was forced out after refusing to charge James with mortgage fraud due to a lack of evidence.
On Thursday, the White House pushed for Harrigan’s nomination in the Senate, but the president’s first choice appears to be in limbo, Semafor reported.
President Trump is trying to advance Lindsay Harrigan’s nomination in the Senate. / XNY/Star Max/GC Photos/Getty Images
Virginia’s two Democratic senators could block the nomination by refusing to return a so-called “blue sheet,” the process of signaling their home state’s support for a nominee.
Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Semafor that Harrigan, who once served as Trump’s personal attorney, has “no blue notice” against either Sens. Tim Kaine or Mark Warner.
None of Virginia Democrats have explicitly vowed to stop Halligan, but her chances of getting blue votes are slim. Semafo said Warner said he would meet with her but that supporting her would be “very difficult”.
A spokesperson for Warner told The Daily Beast that Halligan has not yet attempted to arrange a meeting. The Daily Beast also reached out to Kane’s office for comment.
Failure to return a positive blue sheet amounts to an internal veto, because without a blue sheet, the Senate Judiciary Committee will not hold hearings or make recommendations for a nominee.
The White House declined to comment.
Trump expressed anger about the Blue Order process in a Truth Society post on Thursday.
“I hereby ask Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a wonderful man, to get something done, preferably by ending the Blue List,” Trump wrote. “Too many great Republicans have been sent away. None have been approved!!!”
Days earlier, another of his former personal attorneys, Alina Habba, was forced to resign as New Jersey’s top prosecutor after an appeals court found that she illegally served as interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune refuses to cancel the Blue List process. /Samuel Colum/Getty Images
By law, temporary U.S. attorneys can only serve for 120 days without Senate confirmation, unless the federal judiciary agrees to extend their terms.
In Haba’s case, a panel of judges voted not to renew her appointment, while in Halligan’s case, the court ruled that her appointment was invalid because her predecessor’s 120-day transition period had expired.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Thune rejected Trump’s call to cancel the blue sheet process and insisted that the Senate had approved his nominee in “record speed.”
In a rare sign of Republican opposition, the Senate majority leader said: “This is a process that has been in place for a long time and that both Republicans and Democrats support because it gives them some input into the decision-making process, particularly in terms of judicial appointments that are made in their respective states.”
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has hired new prosecutors to try to secure grand jury indictments against Comey and James, but has so far been unable to convince two grand juries to sign off on indictments against James.