Ex-Fox News host Jeanine Pirro - ridiculed on SNL - is new Attorney for the District of Columbia
Judge Jeanine Pirro was confirmed as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia by the U.S. Senate on Saturday evening with a vote of 50-45.
Pirro was President Donald Trump 's second pick for the role, and has been serving in the position on an interim basis since May.
The president's initial selection for the post was Ed Martin, a longtime conservative activist, podcast host, and recent defender of January 6th rioters. Martin failed to garner enough support from enough Senate Republicans to proceed with his conformation.
Pirro's own confirmation process was not without hurdles. She had to be voted out of the Judiciary Committee twice. Democrats walked out of a committee hearing two weeks ago, claiming that Republicans improperly rushed the confirmation process. The walkout which invalidated the initial committee vote.
During a swearing-in ceremony for the Judge, which took place in the Oval Office back in May, Trump noted that 'Over five decades, Jeanine Pirro, known by millions as Judge Jeanine, has devoted her life to the pursuit of justice, the defense of freedom and the fair, equal and impartial rule of law.'
Trump also referred back to Pirro's early career as a district attorney in Westchester County, New York.
'And she went after real criminals, not fake criminals, like we seem to do today, nowadays,' the president added back in May.
Pirro will now formally serve in a unique position, overseeing both federal crimes, and serious crimes committed in Washington, D.C.
Her new jurisdiction encompasses the U.S. Congress, as well as the headquarters of most government agencies, which makes her role one of the most influential in the country. Cases brought before her division may include ones of national security and public corruption, as well as violent crimes and drug trafficking.
Republicans, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, praised Trump's selection of Pirro for the role, while doing their best to fend off attacks on Pirro from their Democrat counterparts.
'You may hear my Democrat colleagues criticize Ms. Pirro for some of her colorful remarks during her time as a TV personality,' Grassley, stated on the Senate floor ahead of Saturday's vote, adding that 'yes, she has a larger-than-life personality.'
However, Grassley added that, 'she has [a] decades [long] distinguished record as a prosecutor and judge. D.C. is fortunate that the president nominated her to serve as its U.S. attorney. Her job in the interim role, where she is stationed now, has been heralded.'
Democrats framed Pirro as 'an election denialist, recklessly peddling President Trump's Big Lie.' Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said that Pirro continued to push claims about the 2020 election, 'despite even her own Fox News producers and executives warning her to reel it in.'
Fox Corp, the parent company of Fox News, is still locked in a legal battle with voting machine technology company Smartmatic, and Pirro is among the list of Fox personalities accused of spreading false claims about the 2020 election.
Pirro's comments during her Fox News tenure also captured the attention of writers at the comedy show 'Saturday Night Live'. There, Pirro was played by Cecily Strong. In her portrayals of the Fox News personality, Strong frequently praised Trump, and also carried and drank alcohol during her imitations of Pirro.
After Saturday's confirmation vote, Pirro wrote on social media site X that she was 'blessed to have received a Senate confirmation vote this evening of 50 to 45 to be the United States attorney for the District of Columbia the largest United States Attorney's Office in the country.'
'Thank you to those senators who supported my confirmation and DC- get ready for a real crime fighter,' Pirro added in her X post.
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