Thursday’s episode of the Today in Ohio podcast delivers a scathing assessment of how Senator JD Vance’s previous obstructionist tactics have returned to haunt the Trump administration’s efforts to confirm U.S. Attorneys.
The podcast, featuring cleveland.com’s Chris Quinn, Laura Johnston, and Lisa Garvin, unpacked what Johnston described as “playground payback” – a situation where Senate Democrats are now employing the same delaying tactics Vance once used against Biden’s nominees.
“U.S. senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, he formerly chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said, hey, Vance set a new precedent and that means that we’re going to require these time consuming roll call votes to confirm U.S. attorneys,” Johnston explained. “It might take an eternity. He’s going to follow the same playbook.”
The hosts criticized the political tit-for-tat. Quinn expressed particular frustration with Durbin’s approach, suggesting there was a missed opportunity to rise above partisan politics.
“Why not use this as a moment to demonstrate for America that you can rise above that?” Quinn challenged. “Instead of not confirming them, confirm them. And point out how the Democrats are not behaving like the childish Republicans during Biden’s years, that they recognize law and order is important to our communities.”
Quinn highlighted the real-world consequences of these political games, referencing cleveland.com’s previous reporting and the lack, for years, of a confirmed U.S. attorney. “We did stories in Cleveland. They’re way down on their prosecutions. They weren’t getting anything done because we just didn’t get a confirmed U.S. attorney. That’s not the answer. Don’t be the lowest denominator. Raise the quality of governing.”
Johnston pointed out the irony of the situation, noting that when “Vance did this originally, it was all a Trump thing. He said he was protesting the unprecedented political prosecution of Trump by Biden’s Department of Justice.” Now, with roles reversed, Republicans are crying foul while Democrats employ the very tactics Vance pioneered.
The podcast delved into how this situation provides Republicans with “something to point out and saying, hey, this is making our country less safe. And it’s all the Democrats’ fault.” Johnston acknowledged, “I mean, there’s so many false narratives out there, but this one is legit.”
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from Today in Ohio, a news podcast discussion by cleveland.com editors. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.