Democrats walk out over Trump judicial nominee vote

Democrats walked out of a committee vote Thursday to advance the judicial nomination of Emil Bove as Sen. Cory Booker accused the committee chairman of rushing the vote without following Senate rules.

"If you want to force this through, if you want to ram this through, there's a way to do it in accordance to the rules spelled out by the parliamentarian," Booker said. "It is simple, it is clear. There's a pathway to achieve what you're trying to achieve, but sir, this lacks decency. It lacks decorum."

The protest came after Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley called for a vote before every Democrat on the committee had a chance to speak.

Bove, a top official at the Justice Department, has been criticized for some of his decisions at the DOJ, including dropping the New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case.

In a whistleblower complaint, a former DOJ lawyer alleged that Bove suggested the department defy court orders and mislead federal judges.

More than 75 former federal and state judges earlier this week signed a letter urging the committee to reject the nomination of Bove, a former criminal defense lawyer for Trump, to the lifetime appointment as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

All 12 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Bove's nomination.

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