The Senate has confirmed Emil Bove, a former justice department official and defense attorney for Donald Trump, to a lifetime seat on a federal appeals court, despite claims by whistleblowers that he advocated for ignoring court orders. The vote was mostly along party lines, with 50 Republican senators supporting his confirmation to a seat on the third circuit court of appeals.
All Democrats opposed his nomination, along with Republican senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Tennessee senator Bill Hagerty missed the vote. Bove’s nomination has faced strong opposition from Democrats due to allegations that he instructed lawyers to ignore court orders blocking efforts to deport immigrants to El Salvador, which he denied in his testimony.
Another former justice department lawyer supported this claim, providing evidence to the inspector general. The Washington Post also reported that a third whistleblower alleged Bove misled Congress about his role in dropping corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Seven veteran prosecutors resigned rather than follow orders to end the prosecution, which Democrats allege was done to secure Adams’s cooperation with Trump’s immigration policies.
Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate judiciary committee, accused the GOP of pushing Bove’s nomination forward without fully investigating his conduct, suggesting that they feared the answers. Democrats also criticized Bove for his role in the firings of prosecutors who worked on cases connected to the January 6 insurrection and for requesting a list of FBI agents who investigated the attack.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/29/trump-attorney-emil-bove-federal-appeals-court-senate
