Congress

Senate Dems protest committee vote to advance Trump’s judicial pick

Published

11 months ago

July 17, 2025

Emil Bove’s nomination to serve as a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is headed to the Senate floor after Democrats walked out of the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in protest.

The panel voted Thursday morning with only Republican support to advance Bove’s nomination, as every Democrat abstained from recording a vote either way. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) shouted over the proceedings as the roll was called, imploring colleagues to continue debate and accusing committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) of failing to follow Senate rules.

All Democrats, barring Booker, left the hearing room during the votes to advance Bove and other nominees pending before the committee.

“This lacks decency. It lacks decorum. It shows that you do not want to simply hear from your colleagues,” Booker said. “This is us simply trying to rush through one of the most controversial nominees we’ve had under this presidential administration.”

Booker shouted through the votes for a number of other judicial nominees, before ultimately following his colleagues out of the room.

Grassley argued the Republican-led committee’s conduct had precedent. He said that, in November 2023, Democrats proceeded with a vote on two judicial nominees put forward by President Joe Biden, despite Republican protests to continue debate.

But Bove, the former criminal defense attorney to President Donald Trump who is now principal associate deputy attorney general, has come under scrutiny after a whistleblower complaint from a former Department of Justice employee alleged that he had suggested defying court orders for the administration’s deportation agenda.

“He has been trailed by a history of complaints, long predating his affiliation with President Trump about his temperament, his poor judgment and lack of candor in front of the court,” said Senate Judiciary ranking member Dick Durbin of Illinois. “Think of it: We’re talking about a judge for life.”

Democrats earlier this week asked to have the whistleblower at the center of the allegations against Bove testify before lawmakers before holding a vote to send the nomination to the Senate floor. Grassley rejected the request, saying he had reviewed the materials from the whistleblower and his office had investigated the allegations. He said he found them unconvincing and decided there was no reason to delay Bove’s nomination.

Durbin also questioned Thursday whether Bove was involved in the Justice Department’s decision not to release files in the case against disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who was found dead in his jail cell in 2019. In recent days, Democrats have sought to juxtapose Trump allies’ promises of transparency around the Epstein case with the DOJ’s decision to withhold release of further materials. Their campaign has sought to exploit division between Trump and his MAGA base, which has long championed conspiracies around a cover-up of the Epstein files.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has become the de facto swing vote on the judiciary panel amid his announcement he won’t seek reelection next year, opted to advance Bove’s nomination, despite recently saying he would not support nominees who have supported the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

As a senior Justice Department leader, Bove played a role in the agency’s dismissal of staffers who had worked on cases tied to the Capitol attack during the Biden administration. Tillis, however, fiercely defended his decision to support Bove and emphasized he would not support any nominee who had specifically endorsed violence against Capitol police officers.

“Does anybody really believe that, if I was convinced that Bove had made any statements condoning the violent acts against Capitol police officers, that I’d be voting for him?” Tillis said during Thursday’s committee meeting. “Just ask Ed Martin whether or not that’s a red line.”

Tillis objected to Martin’s nomination to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, citing his defense of Capitol rioters and his comments around the attack. The senator’s decision to oppose Martin on those grounds effectively tanked his confirmation chances, with former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro nominated as Trump’s second choice for the job.

“The fact of the matter is, I can’t find one piece of evidence where he said that the violent acts against police officers were okay or condoned,” Tillis said of Bove. “If you find it, let me know.”

But Democrats also decried Bove’s nomination by pointing to his involvement in the dismissal of corruption charges against Eric Adams, which coincided with the New York City Democratic mayor’s decision to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement activities at the Rikers Island jail. Lawyers at the Justice Department resigned over the episode amid accusations that Adams had entered into a quid pro quo.

The judiciary panel also voted Thursday to proceed on a number of other nominations, including Pirro, who has been serving in that role in an interim capacity.

Congress

Mamdani-backed socialist ousts Espaillat in NY-13

Published

6 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

NEW YORK — Darializa Avila Chevalier has ousted five-term House member Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a massive victory for the Democratic Socialists of America.

Her win marks another rebuke of the Democratic establishment in New York following Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral election last year, cementing the DSA as one of the city’s most potent political forces. The upset reflects a political climate in which voters have become increasingly willing to cast aside longtime incumbents in favor of outsiders promising change.

Avila Chevalier focused much of her campaign on attacking Espaillat for accepting donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and real estate interests during his career.

“I really feel that this is a fight to make sure that we are representing working-class New Yorkers who have been left behind by a politics that only serves the interests of corporations, of corporate landlords, of special interest groups that are making life in New York deeply unaffordable for so many,” Avila Chevalier said last month, during an appearance with Mamdani on MS NOW where the mayor endorsed her campaign.

Espaillat, who is the first formerly undocumented person to serve in Congress, came up short despite having the support of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin.

Avila Chevalier, 32, was a leading organizer in the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University in 2024 and is a sociology Ph.D. student at the CUNY Graduate Center. She has served as an investigator for a public defender’s office and is originally from South Florida.

For most of the race, Espaillat was widely viewed as the favorite, but Mamdani’s late May endorsement of Avila Chevalier jolted a contest that began to show signs it was tightening. An April poll from Avila Chevalier’s campaign showed her down 14 points.

Her victory came despite intense outside spending in support of Espaillat, including from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ campaign arm.

Avila Chevalier’s election to New York’s 13th district also shows a changing of the guard in Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx. Espaillat has served at the helm of a political alliance, known as the “Squadriano,” that has ruled over those areas of the city, home to large Dominican American and African American populations.

At times during the race, Espaillat and his supporters sought to frame the primary battle as a contest between gentrifiers and long-term residents.

“Those that choose or want to parachute in, after the men and women of this city, the working men and women of the city, have built our neighborhood, we’re gonna send them back home packing wherever they came from,” the 71-year-old member of Congress said last month.

The story of his political ascendance and reign in Upper Manhattan has also been characterized by an intense rivalry with Manhattan Democratic Party Chair Keith Wright, an ally of the late Rep. Charles Rangel, whom Espaillat challenged for Congress in 2012 and 2014.

But this year’s primary seems to have calmed the bitter rivalry between Espaillat and Wright amid the encroachment of the Democratic Socialists of America on disputed turf. Earlier this month, Espaillat endorsed Wright’s son , state Assemblymember Jordan Wright, who was also facing a DSA-backed challenger.

The peace pact wasn’t enough to fend off the challenge from Avila Chevalier, who seized on a progressive swing in the district ever since Mamdani handily beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral primary there.

“We have come a long way from where we used to be as a party,” Mamdani said in the interview where he announced his endorsement of Avila Chevalier. “It’s time we have a new generation that not only takes us back to that ambition, but takes us forward to the tomorrow that so many New Yorkers are waiting for.”

Congress

Former Utah Rep. Ben McAdams is on track to return to Congress

Published

7 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Rep. Ben McAdams won his primary Tuesday, paving the way for his return to Congress.

McAdams, a moderate, staved off a roster of progressive challengers in Utah’s newly redrawn 1st District, a rare deep-blue Salt Lake City district in a deep-red state that came as a result of a messy, decadelong redistricting saga.

McAdams will enter November as the heavy favorite in a district former Vice President Kamala Harris won by nearly 24 points in 2024.

McAdams won a GOP-leaning seat in the 2018 Democratic wave and governed as a centrist, Blue Dog Democrat who pushed for a balanced budget amendment — but he lost his reelection bid in 2020. He was one of the first Democrats to signal interest in running in the new 1st District and quickly garnered support from Utah elected officials and national centrist Democrats.

His progressive opponents attempted to paint him as too conservative, pointing to his previous mixed record on abortion. One opponent, state Sen. Nate Blouin, called on the other candidates to consolidate their support behind one person to avoid splitting the progressive vote. None agreed, and McAdams — who raised more money than the three other Democrats combined — prevailed.

Congress

Trump’s preferred candidate wins primary to succeed Elise Stefanik

Published

7 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

ALBANY, New York — President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik cruised to victory in his Republican primary Tuesday evening.

Anthony Constantino, the CEO of custom sticker company Sticker Mule, defeated Assemblymember Robert Smullen, a retired Marine colonel, for the nomination in a deep red upstate New York House district.

Trump, along with MAGA figures Roger Stone and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, backed Constantino’s bid, casting aside Smullen’s endorsement from the New York Republican Committee.

Constantino’s victory underscores the power of Trump’s endorsement in a district he has won during each of his three presidential campaigns. His win also highlights how a candidate who’s fashioned himself in a MAGA mold can continue to resonate in a largely rural and predominantly white district that has struggled economically for decades.

A former boxer, Constantino has dabbled in music, producing songs that praise Trump. He initially drew Stone’s attention after erecting a large “Vote for Trump” sign on a building in Amsterdam, N.Y., a city less than an hour west of Albany. Constantino also gifted Trump a bronze statue in the president’s likeness.

The circus-like primary became a bruising battle between a first-time candidate who channeled Trump-style promotion and attacks against an establishment favorite with a long, accomplished resume.

Constantino referred to Smullen as “Slime Bob” and called him “evil” in a text message to his rival. Smullen, in turn, called Constantino “unfit” and knocked his prior enrollment as a Democrat.

The race became so bitter that Smullen refused to shake Constantino’s hand at the conclusion of their only televised debate.

Constantino poured $10 million of his own money into the race and spent more than $3.8 million on TV ads, saturating upstate media market airwaves. Smullen’s campaign spent a fraction of that amount, more than $500,000 in ad spending, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.

The sticker impresario also displayed a marketing flare, printing t-shirts that touted his Trump endorsement.

Smullen leaned heavily on his biography and background as a combat Marine. But he often found himself responding — sometimes angrily — to Constantino’s barrage of attacks.

Constantino will now have to make peace with some New York power brokers as he pivots to the general election. Smullen is set to remain on the November ballot with the backing of the state Conservative Party’s ballot line. Constantino is being sued for defamation by that party’s leader, Jerry Kassar.

The House seat opened after Stefanik, who has represented the area for more than a decade, announced she would leave Congress after scuttling her gubernatorial campaign. Stefanik was previously Trump’s nominee for United Nations ambassador, but that was yanked amid concerns her vacancy would complicate the House Republicans’ narrow majority.

Stefanik did not endorse in the race to replace her.