President Donald Trump has secured another temporary victory, as he successfully sidestepped Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) efforts to block a key nomination.
On the evening of April 16, Trump circumvented Schumer’s efforts to block Jay Clayton from being confirmed in a key federal prosecutor role. In a post on Truth Social, the president announced that he had appointed Clayton to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“I am pleased to announce that Jay Clayton will serve as the Interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. During my First Term, Jay served with great distinction as the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and earned the respect of everyone,” Trump wrote.
The president went on to note that when he had first announced his intention to nominate Clayton for the position in mid-November, the decision received “wide, Bipartisan support.”
“Now, after five months and, even though Jay was previously confirmed by the Senate on a Bipartisan basis, and has complied with ALL requests of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Schumer has announced that he is blocking all New York U.S. Attorney Nominees,” Trump added.
“The Southern District leads the Department of Justice’s oversight over our Financial Markets, and fights for the safety of Millions of New Yorkers and the over 60 Million people who visit New York annually,” Trump continued. “The Southern District needs strong leadership NOW, and I thank Jay for taking on this role while we continue to pursue his Senate confirmation.”
This move sidesteps the Senate confirmation process that Schumer was desperately trying to jam. Schumer was planning to use the “blue slip” tradition that allows home-state senators to effectively block a nominee if they do not support them, announcing earlier that day that he planned to use the tradition to block the nomination of both Clayton and Joseph Nocella Jr., a Long Island judge who Trump had nominated for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“Donald Trump has made clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies,” Schumer falsely claimed in a statement.
“Such blatant and depraved political motivations are deeply corrosive to the rule of law and leaves me deeply skeptical of the [sic] Donald Trump’s intentions for these important positions,” he added. “For that reason, I will not return the blue slip for the U.S. Attorney nominees for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.”
While the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee has the power to ignore Schumer’s “blue slip,” Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has indicated that he would not break the tradition to move the nomination forward.
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