00:00Association. I congratulate Ms. Campbell and her family on this nomination and I
00:06look forward to hearing her testimony today. Colleagues, Senator Blackburn has
00:11asked to make remarks on the nomination and I now recognize Senator Blackburn
00:15for three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, I am really saddened and really
00:21quite astounded that once again I am here today having to oppose a circuit
00:28nominee from my home state because this administration has completely shut
00:34Senator Hagerty and I out of this process. This is now the fourth time, the
00:40fourth time, that they have disregarded Tennessee senators and thereby the
00:46people of our state. It should concern every member of this committee. We know
00:52we don't have a blue slip on this process and I'm not asking for veto power
00:58or even my preferred nominee, but I'm asking for the constitutional
01:04instruction of advice and consent in the process just like the framers intended.
01:12And now for the fourth time, the White House has refused to extend that
01:17long-standing bipartisan construct to Senator Hagerty and me. Of course, the
01:24White House bad faith should come as no surprise. As everybody on this committee
01:29knows, just a few weeks ago we held a hearing on another Tennessee Sixth
01:35Circuit nominee, Kevin Ritz, whom the White House hand-selected in a backroom
01:40deal before the judicial vacancy was even announced and had the White House
01:47consulted us, they might have avoided nominating a man whose record of ethical
01:54misconduct makes him unqualified and unconfirmable.
01:59Ms. Campbell's nomination follows the same troubling pattern. As with Kevin
02:04Ritz, the White House entered into a backroom deal to appoint Ms. Campbell to
02:10this vacancy from the very start. Judge Strauch agreed to step down in
02:16exchange for the White House appointing her former law clerk, an attorney at her
02:22husband's law firm. The die was cast before the judicial vacancy was even
02:28announced, but had the White House consulted us on her candidacy, they might
02:34have avoided nominating someone whose radical political affiliations render
02:41her, in the opinion of many in Tennessee and many members of the Tennessee Bar,
02:48completely unqualified for the role of a federal judge. And I'm sure we're going
02:54to talk more about that today. Senator Tillis said it well last month at Kevin
03:01Ritz's markup, and I'll say it again today in closing. Remember this moment.
03:08Remember this. If you don't stand with us in opposing the White House complete
03:15disregard for home state senators in this process, you need to remember this
03:21moment. The shoe will at some point soon be on the other foot. Thank you, Mr.
03:26Chairman. Thank you, Senator Blackburn. I'll just respond briefly, but we've had
03:31discussions about the blue slip process in this committee, so I won't go through
03:36that again. But my understanding is the White House, from their perspective, did
03:41have some consultation. I'll just go. Mr. Chairman, they did not. They did not. And
03:47we have all the documentation to show that not once, not twice, not three, but
03:52four times. I think I thank the senator for that. Uh, the version from the White
03:57House is that they notified.
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