Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he wants to hold confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland on Feb. 8, a day before the impeachment trial of former President Trump begins in the Senate.
But he said he doesn’t know if Republicans on the committee would consent to allow it to happen without a one-week formal notification of the hearing, as committee rules require.
Durbin said he planned to talk Wednesday to Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who will be the top Republican on the committee, to see if they can reach an agreement to do it then.
The discussions come after an agreement was reached on an organizing resolution for the Senate, which should be officially adopted by the full Senate at some point Wednesday, that allows Democrats to finally take control of the committees even though they moved into majority control of the Senate back on Jan. 20.
Durbin, who is also the second-ranking member of the Democratic leadership, said he didn’t know if Republicans would agree to a one-day hearing for Garland instead of the customary two-day hearings for attorney general nominees. The outgoing chairman of the committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has been adamant this week that he wanted two-days of hearings, something that would not be possible with the impeachment trial starting Tuesday.
Asked about Graham’s concerns, Durbin said, “I had a conversation with him (Graham) that left that uncertain so I want to speak to Sen. Grassley directly.”
Durbin also rebutted criticism from Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, who said Democrats were to blame for not filling out Biden’s Cabinet quickly because they were putting Covid relief and the impeachment trial first.
“Of course we want the Cabinet in place,” Durbin told CNN as he left a memorial service of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was killed during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol that is the reason an impeachment trial is happening. “We cannot ignore what happened Jan. 6. This day more than others should be a reminder for every member of the Senate and House about what we lost that day and we just can’t ignore that reality and the impeachment that’s looming in the United States Senate.”
He also said it was critical to get Garland confirmed calling him, “The last major element of our national security team. It should be a high priority.”