The Senate Judiciary Committee canceled a meeting scheduled for Thursday because of attendance issues, pushing back the consideration of 10 judicial nominees, including a potential vote on controversial First Circuit pick Michael Delaney.
Attorney General Merrick Garland defended the "independence and integrity" of the U.S. Department of Justice and pushed back against GOP senators who accused him of politicization and criticized his prosecutorial policies Wednesday during a long and occasionally contentious Senate hearing.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized First Circuit nominee Michael Arthur Delaney on Thursday and urged President Joe Biden to reconsider the nomination after the judicial pick testified in a contentious hearing that centered on his advocacy in a case involving a sexual assault survivor.
A First Circuit nominee defended his past role representing a school facing a lawsuit from a sexual assault survivor's family during a Senate hearing Wednesday, as Republicans questioned his judgment in the case that some said was "disqualifying" for his nomination to the bench.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has brought on Debevoise & Plimpton for legal services related to a possible impeachment inquiry against Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a DHS spokesperson confirmed to Law360 on Friday.