Judiciary Committee senators spar over the tone of questions directed at nominees of color
CNN
Concerns raised by a Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee member about the tone of questioning being directed at nominees of color prompted sharp rebuke by two Republicans on the committee.
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California used a Thursday committee vote on Andre Mathis, President Joe Biden's nominee to the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, to spotlight questioning toward the Black nominee that Padilla characterized as "demeaning, offensive and just plain wrong."
"Mr. Mathis, unfortunately, isn't the only nominee to receive this kind of treatment," Padilla said. "It's not lost on me that [it's] nominees of color that have been treated differently in our hearings, whether it's insinuations of rap sheets, or hostility about their qualifications or views, or undue scrutiny of their personal religious faith."
Prosecutors seek 15 years in prison for former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez after bribery conviction
Prosecutors say former US Sen. Bob Menendez should be imprisoned for 15 years, after the Democrat from New Jersey became the first to be convicted of abusing a Senate committee leadership position and the first public official to be convicted of serving as a foreign agent.