U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor opposing President Trump’s nomination of Stanley Woodward for Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice.
Durbin criticized the process that allowed Woodward’s nomination to move forward, referencing a recent decision by Senate Republicans to fast-track nominees. He stated, “The upcoming vote on more than a hundred nominees is actually what I feared would happen when Senate Republicans violated Senate rules to fast-track nominees. This has opened the door to rushing through more extreme nominees who have one qualification for office: they are blindly loyal to President Trump. That extends to a man named Stanley Woodward, the nominee to be the number three official at the Department of Justice.”
Durbin questioned Woodward’s qualifications for the role and pointed out his lack of prior experience at the Justice Department before joining under the current administration. “Mr. Woodward is not even close to qualified. He has never, never worked at the Justice Department before this Administration. What he has done is show his loyalty to Donald Trump by representing Trump associates for their roles in thwarting investigations into the President,” Durbin said.
He also accused Woodward of helping dismantle and politicize divisions within DOJ during his time as senior advisor to the Attorney General, including pushing out career attorneys and diverting resources from civil rights protections.
Durbin raised concerns about an antitrust settlement negotiated by Woodward involving Hewlett Packard’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, which resulted in two companies controlling over 70 percent of the wireless network market. According to Durbin, “Mr. Woodward also overruled Antitrust Division officials to personally negotiate a settlement with lobbyists in DOJ’s challenge to Hewlett Packard’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. The acquisition resulted in two firms controlling more than 70 percent of the wireless network market, a market duopoly. Trump Administration political appointees in the Antitrust Division who objected to this settlement—what happened to them? They were forced out of office. One of them said of the settlement, ‘corrupt lobbyists with no relevant expertise are perverting actual law enforcement through money, power, relationships, and influence. Stanley Woodward perverted justice and acted inconsistent with the rule of law.’”
Earlier in September, Durbin sent a letter criticizing Attorney General Bondi’s approach on antitrust matters and cited this specific case involving Mr. Woodward.
Addressing Republican actions regarding confirmation procedures for high-level DOJ positions such as Associate Attorney General, Durbin recalled past efforts against previous nominees like Vanita Gupta during President Biden’s administration: “In 2021, Republicans tried to filibuster her nomination in Committee and then tried to shut down Committee business before we voted. On the floor, Republicans forced extra procedural votes to slow down her confirmation. Despite my frustration at the time with my Republican colleagues for obstructing a highly qualified and experienced nominee to serve as Associate Attorney General, I never sought to short-circuit the constitutional responsibility of members of the Senate to give advice and consent. Now, when the shoe is on the other foot, Republicans are intent on taking away yet another core duty of the Senate in deference to President Trump.”
Durbin ended his remarks by urging senators not to support this group of nominations.
