Five GOP attorneys general wrote a letter asking President Biden to withdraw his nominee for associate attorney general.
Attorneys General Todd Rokita of Indiana, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Ken Paxton of Texas, Leslie Rutledge of Arkansas, and Mike Hunter of Oklahoma argued in their letter that Vanita Gupta’s “radical” views disqualified her from serving in the role.
“Ms. Gupta’s past comments and track record have demonstrated her disinterest in meaningful police reform in favor of destructive policies that would defund the police,” the letter read. “Her nomination will further divide our nation instead of implementing policies to protect our communities and support law enforcement.”
WHITE HOUSE STANDS BY TANDEN BUT SIGNALS A FATAL ‘STAGE’ IN PROCESS IS POSSIBLE
The attorneys general criticized previous testimony from Gupta before the Senate Judiciary Committee in which she referenced “structural racism that permeates our justice system” and urged Congress to “pass meaningful, lasting accountability and funding measures that protect communities of color from the systemic perils of over-policing, police brutality, misconduct, harassment, and outright murder” by “decreas[ing] police budgets.”
“This is not the time for the Department to pull back policing and implement policies that would shift resources to other priorities and ‘decrease police budgets,'” the attorneys general wrote to Biden. “Instead, she wants to shift scarce resources to other priorities rather than hire more police … [and] she has demonstrated a hostility to rank and file law enforcement. Should she be entrusted with making policies that will affect all local law enforcement and prosecutors, the result will be higher crime rates, more families torn apart by homicides and other violent crime, and neighborhoods where kids feel like they have no choice other than to take part in a life of crime.”
Gupta is not the first Biden nominee to receive backlash from Republicans. Office of Management and Budget nominee Neera Tanden‘s confirmation is in jeopardy due to uniform opposition from Republicans, who cite her litany of tweets slamming members of Congress as conduct unbecoming of an OMB director.
“Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency,” centrist Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement. “Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend. … I will vote against confirming Ms. Tanden.”
The potential death knell for Tanden’s candidacy was Sen. Joe Manchin‘s Feb. 19 announcement that he would oppose Tanden’s nomination.
“I have carefully reviewed Neera Tanden’s public statements and tweets that were personally directed towards my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from Senator Sanders to Senator McConnell and others,” the West Virginia Democrat said. “I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget.”
In response to the bipartisan opposition, two Senate committees tabled planned Feb. 24 votes on her nomination in the Senate Homeland Security and Budget committees.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Gupta’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled for March 9.
