Senate confirms Trump loyalist Bove to top court

What happened

The Senate Tuesday night confirmed Emil Bove, the controversial Justice Department official who previously served as one of President Donald Trump's criminal defense lawyers, to a lifetime seat on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The 50-49 vote followed allegations from three whistleblowers that Bove lied in his Senate hearing and told Justice Department officials they might need to ignore court orders in immigration cases.

Who said what

Trump has "indicated he expects" a "degree of loyalty" from "his judges," Politico said, and "Bove's allegiance to Trump goes deeper than those of Trump's previous judicial picks." Bove denied being Trump's DOJ "enforcer" or "henchman," but his confirmation "provided at least a tacit Senate endorsement of the president's efforts to bend the justice system to his will," The New York Times said.

Most Republicans — including Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a longtime whistleblower defender — "dismissed" the whistleblower complaints about Bove's "conduct at the Justice Department," The Associated Press said. But Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said his actions at the DOJ led her to conclude he "would not serve as an impartial jurist." Sen Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she voted against Bove because nobody who "counseled other attorneys that you should ignore the law" should get a "lifetime seat on the bench."

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What next?

Bove will serve as one of the 14 judges on the 3rd Circuit court, hearing cases from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands.