{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-highlights-the-senates-responsibility-to-hold-the-executive-branch-accountable-amid-president-trumps-abuses-of-powers", "Durbin Highlights The Senate\u2019s Responsibility To Hold The Executive Branch Accountable Amid President Trump\u2019s Abuses Of Powers", "2025-12-17", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Richard J. Durbin", "D000563", "www.durbin.senate.gov", "durbin", "https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "During Durbin\u2019s opening statement in a Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, he also condemned President Trump\u2019s attempts to undermine the Senate blue slip tradition\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at a Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing highlighted the Senate\u2019s responsibility to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees; called out President Trump\u2019s cruel immigration tactics, as well as his unlawful and un-American actions; and commented on the longstanding bipartisan Senate tradition, the blue slip. Durbin also condemned Secretary Hegseth\u2019s refusal during a classified briefing yesterday to share with all Senators the full, unedited video of the September 2nd lethal strikes on an alleged drug boat that killed two survivors.\n\nToday\u2019s hearing is on the nominations of Daniel Edward Burrows, to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy (OLP); Megan Blair Benton, to the U.S District Court for the Western District of Missouri; Brian Charles Lea, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee; and Justin Ross Olson, to the U.S District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.\n\nKey Quotes:\n\n\u201cThe Senate, as part of the legislative branch, must provide advice and consent on presidential nominees. It is a responsibility that goes back to our nation\u2019s founding\u2026To ensure the president could not become a despot like King George III, our Founders designed a system of checks and balances [that] separated the federal government\u2019s powers among its three branches.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Senate\u2019s role in providing advice and consent on presidential nominees is one critical check on the executive branch. Today\u2019s hearing is a step in that process. And it has never been more important that the Senate exercise this role\u2014because the President is determined to push the bounds of his power at every opportunity.\u201d\n\n\u201cAcross the country, immigration agents are racially profiling and arresting American citizens\u2014even veterans. At a spotlight forum last week, I spoke about how one Chicagoan\u2014a U.S. citizen on her way to work\u2014was physically assaulted, arrested, and detained for several hours after ICE agents crashed into her car and pointed their weapons at her\u2026 [This] is not conduct that we can or should tolerate in the United States.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the Trump Administration\u2019s unlawful and un-American actions are not limited to our own shores or our fellow citizens. The President has ordered extrajudicial killings of at least 95 people off the coast of Venezuela. Yesterday, our self-styled \u2018Secretary of War\u2019 essentially told Senators to \u2018go to hell\u2019 when we asked to see videos of the episode where two stranded victims may have been executed in violation of international, legal standards.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Trump Administration alleges that these individuals are \u2018narco-terrorists.\u2019 Drug trafficking is a serious crime and should be prosecuted. But that is not what is happening here. Instead, President Trump is engaging in the summary executions of criminal suspects. That is a violation of law\u2014in both peacetime and wartime.\u201d\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s hearing is part of our effort to fulfill our obligation. But we must also conduct oversight and hold accountable a President who too often ignores the limits of power\u2026 We are now about to finish this calendar year with the Department of Homeland Security spurning every effort made to bring and hold her [Secretary Noem] accountable for what\u2019s happening [in regard to immigration raids across the country].\u201d\n\n\u201cIn closing, I want to note that multiple nominees on today\u2019s panel are here because of this Committee\u2019s longstanding, bipartisan tradition of requiring blue slips from Senators supporting district court nominees from their states.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust this week, the President falsely claimed, \u2018if you have one Democrat in a state, it is not possible to appoint because of blue slips.\u2019 In fact, this year the Committee has reported\u2014and the Senate has confirmed\u2014numerous judicial and U.S. Attorney nominees from blue states with the support of Democratic Senators.\u201d\n\n\u201c[Blue slips] simply require that President Trump do what every other President before him has done\u2014work with home-state Senators to identify well-qualified nominees who will follow the law. Blue slips remain a critical part of this body\u2019s advice and consent [responsibility] even when they frustrate the party in power. I want to thank Chairman Grassley for continuing to follow this practice.\u201d\n\nVideo of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here.\n\nAudio of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here.\n\nFootage of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-highlights-the-senates-responsibility-to-hold-the-executive-branch-accountable-amid-president-trumps-abuses-of-powers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.004628837108612, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}