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Eugene

(61,865 posts)
Fri Mar 29, 2019, 10:56 AM Mar 2019

Nominee For No. 3 At Justice Department Withdraws After Backlash From GOP Senators

Source: NPR

Nominee For No. 3 At Justice Department Withdraws After Backlash From GOP Senators

March 29, 20199:26 AM ET
CARRIE JOHNSON

Updated at 10: 17 a.m.

President Trump's pick to serve as third in command at the Justice Department, overseeing health care and immigration cases, withdrew her name from consideration Thursday evening amid backlash from conservative lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Jessie Liu leads more than 300 prosecutors as the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., the nation's largest such office. As an Asian-American woman, she would have added a measure of diversity to the Justice Department's senior ranks — as well as serious prosecution chops. The Justice Department said Liu will remain in her current post and advise Attorney General William Barr as the head of a committee of other top federal prosecutors.

Two sources told NPR that the attorney general got into a "shouting match" with Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a key figure in opposing Liu's bid, over the issues. A spokeswoman for Barr declined comment on the heated conversation with a lawmaker from his own political party. For his part, Barr issued a statement filled with praise for Liu and insisting, "We will all benefit from her universally-regarded expertise and dedication to public service" in her role as an adviser to him.

Four lawyers familiar with the matter said the stumbling block for Liu was a broader concern about her conservatism — specifically, her stance on women's reproductive rights. Interest groups had begun drafting letters to senators about their fears that Liu would not support restrictions on abortion. Another key factor: Earlier in her career, Liu had an affiliation with the National Association of Women Lawyers, which sent a letter opposing the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.npr.org/2019/03/29/707938914/nominee-for-no-3-at-justice-department-withdraws-after-backlash-from-gop-senator
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Nominee For No. 3 At Justice Department Withdraws After Backlash From GOP Senators (Original Post) Eugene Mar 2019 OP
More and more as time goes by...'Female Republican' sounds like an oxymoron. Wounded Bear Mar 2019 #1

Wounded Bear

(58,645 posts)
1. More and more as time goes by...'Female Republican' sounds like an oxymoron.
Fri Mar 29, 2019, 10:58 AM
Mar 2019

I don't understand how any woman could support that party.

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