PA Democratic Party Chairman: “Our hope is” that Fetterman stays with the party
PA Democratic Party Chairman Eugene DePasquale addressed the Fetterman speculation in Erie on Wednesday, a day before Fetterman ruled out changing parties.
- Sen. John Fetterman has filed a “blue slip” allowing President Trump’s attorney general nominee Antonio Pozos to advance.
- Fetterman becomes the first Democratic lawmaker to endorse a nominee for attorney general during Trump’s second term.
- Mr. Pozos has been appointed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) is making waves again by defying Democratic Party norms and greenlighting President Donald Trump’s selection of federal judges in Pennsylvania.
According to Reuters, Pennsylvania state lawmakers last week filed a document known colloquially as a “blue return” with the Senate Judiciary Committee, clearing the way for President Trump’s nominee Antonio Pozos to potentially become a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Fetterman has not commented on the move, and ultimately Pozos will still have to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Fetterman leaves Democratic Party, paving the way for Trump to nominate Pennsylvania federal judge
Reuters reported on June 5 that Fetterman filed a “blue return” to clear the way for Senate consideration of Pozos, President Trump’s nominee for the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania. The Eastern District Court has courthouses in Allentown, Easton, Philadelphia, and Reading.
The move was first reported the same day by Punchbowl News, which noted that Fetterman was not only the only Democrat to file any of these documents in the case, but also the only Democrat to file a blue return to allow the promotion of one of Trump’s attorney general nominees during President Trump’s second term.
Fetterman’s office did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY regarding his decision to return the blue slips.
According to Reuters, President Trump also nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Martin to judge the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin have not said whether they will return the blue slip for his nomination.
What’s happening now with Pennsylvania judges nominated by President Trump?
Pozos is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 10, according to Reuters.
Progressives hope Fetterman’s move is a one-off for Democrats
Demand Justice, a progressive nonprofit, is planning a six-figure ad buy across Pennsylvania in response to Fetterman’s failure to veto Trump’s nomination of Pozos, Punchbowl News reported. The group has run similar ads against some of the 19 Democrats who voted in favor of judicial nominees during Trump’s second term, and the group says the candidates should be blocked because Trump refuses to say he lost the 2020 election to Democratic former President Joe Biden, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, Demand Justice President Josh Orton said he hoped Fetterman’s recent actions were just the latest in the senator’s repeated breakdowns with his party, rather than an indication that the Democratic Party as a whole would vote in favor of Trump’s nomination.
“My hope is that the return of blue returns to Trump judges remains just a Fetterman turnaround to enable Trump, and not something that gets widely adopted in the Democratic caucus,” Orton said.
Who is Antonio Pozos and why did President Trump nominate him for federal judgeship in Pennsylvania?
According to Reuters, Pozos is a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Rees. He was nominated by President Trump as a federal judge candidate on May 11, and on the same day, President Trump announced that he had selected Martin as his successor in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Finch Walker is a Pittsburgh Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.
