Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Hearing on the Nominations of Todd Blanche to Deputy Attorney General and Gail Slater to be Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Good morning. I’d like to welcome everyone to this hearing to consider the nominations of Todd Blanche to serve as the Deputy Attorney General and Gail Slater to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division. Congratulations on your nominations and thank you for your willingness to serve.
Before I turn to my opening statement, I’ll explain how we're going to proceed today.
I’ll give my opening remarks, and then I’ll invite Ranking Member Durbin to give opening remarks. Then I’ll call on Representative Simpson and Senator Moody to introduce the nominees. After that, Mr. Blanche and Ms. Slater will have a chance to give an opening statement to the Committee.
Following the statements from the nominees, we’ll proceed to a single, seven-minute round of questions. I ask Members to do their best to adhere to these time limits, so that we can proceed efficiently with the hearing.
With that, I’ll turn to my opening remarks.
We’re here today to consider the nominations of Todd Blanche and Gail Slater to serve in very senior positions at the DOJ.
Mr. Blanche and Ms. Slater, thank you both for being here. You’re nominated to serve in important roles in the Department of Justice, and you both have impressive qualifications. Many people don’t realize just how intense the Committee vetting process is. It took a lot of work for both of you to get here today, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you.
I’d also like to thank your family and friends for coming. I know some of them traveled to be here, and I know they’re very proud of both of you.
I’ll also note a special guest in the audience today. Chairman Ferguson of the FTC has come to watch the proceedings. The FTC and the Justice Department work together to enforce our nation’s antitrust laws, and so Chairman Ferguson has a keen interest in today’s hearing. He used to sit behind me in hearings like these, so I hope he enjoys the different perspective today.
Public trust in the DOJ is very low and our legal system has been weaponized by partisans. Under the Obama administration and then later under Biden, the Justice Department and FBI were prime movers in turning our law enforcement agencies into political weapons.
Our new Attorney General Pam Bondi has promised to turn things around. I expect both of you will work with her as she restores confidence and faith in the Justice Department.
Mr. Blanche, you’re particularly well suited to serve as the second-in-command of the Justice Department. Your strong background in criminal litigation, coupled with your firsthand view of a weaponized legal system, makes you the perfect choice. If anything, your exposure to Jack Smith’s lawfare will serve as an example of what not to do.
Mr. Blanche is no partisan. He’s a serious lawyer with a history of non-political service. He went to law school at night, and clerked for judges appointed to the district courts by Presidents Clinton and Bush, and later elevated to the Second Circuit by Presidents Obama and Trump.
After clerking, Mr. Blanche landed a position in the Southern District of New York, a highly respected U.S. Attorney’s office.
Through hard work, competence, and decency, he earned a stellar reputation for being a fair prosecutor. More than 100 of his former colleagues at the Southern District of New York described his reputation in a letter of support to the Committee. They wrote, “he puts the core values of the DOJ—independence, impartiality, honesty, integrity, respect, excellence, and a fierce dedication to fairness under the law—into practice.” They also said, “Todd is a fundamentally good and decent man.”
After a long period of government service, Mr. Blanche worked for two prestigious law firms—including the oldest firm on Wall Street.
Of course, all of these achievements aren’t what Mr. Blanche is most known for.
Mr. Blanche put his reputation and career on the line to represent one of the most famous defendants of our time—President Trump. Mr. Blanche, a former Democrat and partner at a large law firm, made the brave decision to stand up to Jack Smith’s and District Attorney Bragg’s rampant lawfare. He handled these cases with professional excellence, and paid a personal cost for his decision. In fact, Mr. Blanche was actually forced out of his law firm because he chose to represent President Trump.
Mr. Blanche is a lawyer’s lawyer. He’s got a long career as a criminal litigator, a stellar reputation, and the whole country has seen that he’ll do the right thing, even when unpopular. Mr. Blanche is exactly the kind of partner Attorney General Bondi needs to help restore faith in the Justice Department.
Ms. Slater also has an impressive resume and the right qualifications to run the antitrust division. Ms. Slater spent several years practicing antitrust law in private practice, and then a decade at the Federal Trade Commission handling antitrust investigations and litigation. In these roles, Ms. Slater got a first-hand view of the nuts and bolts of antitrust enforcement.
Ms. Slater also understands antitrust and economics from a policy perspective. She spent several years working in-house for a trade association and for private companies. She also served in President Trump’s first administration on the National Economic Council, and served now-Vice President Vance as his Economic Policy Advisor and a member of his Senate staff. Ms. Slater has numerous accomplishments in the antitrust space, and I have high hopes for the antitrust division under her strong leadership.
I’m not the only one who thinks Ms. Slater has impressive qualifications. She received a letter of support from nine previous heads of the DOJ Antitrust Division appointed by presidents of both parties. These officials wrote, “Ms. Slater has the experience, intelligence, judgement, and leadership skills necessary to serve as an excellent Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.”
In short, the two nominees before us today have excellent credentials and a history of public service. I look forward to hearing from both of them today.
With that, I’ll turn to Ranking Member Durbin for his opening remarks.
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