These 18 GOP senators voted for the judge that Trump wants recused from overseeing his January 6 trial
Demetrius Freeman/Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images; Tom Brenner/AFP via Getty Images
- Trump and other Republicans have bashed Tanya Chutkan, the judge overseeing his January 6 trial.
- But in 2014, 18 currently-serving GOP senators voted for her confirmation.
- That includes Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, who have both criticized Chutkan as a Trump hater.
As former President Donald Trump faces criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, he and other Republicans have targeted their ire at Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge overseeing the case.
Trump has called for Chutkan, a US District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, to recuse herself, claiming there's "no way" he can get a fair trial with her overseeing the case. He has also sought to move the trial to West Virginia.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has also described Chutkan as "far left" and "relentlessly hostile" to Trump, while Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has claimed Chutkan "hates Trump."
—Acyn (@Acyn) August 3, 2023
Chutkan has recently overseen many of the cases that the Department of Justice brought against Capitol rioters, sentencing at least 38 people to prison and often going further than what DOJ prosecutors recommended.
And in a memorable ruling rejecting Trump's claims of executive privilege over documents sought by the January 6 committee, Chutkan wrote that "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."
Nonetheless, both Cruz and Graham joined the rest of their party in voting to confirm Chutkan to her current position in June of 2014, after she was nominated by then-President Barck Obama.
In fact, the vote was 95-0 — all Republicans present that day voted to confirm Chutkan in what was essentially a unanimous vote.
The Senate has seen significant turnover in the 9 years since Chutkan's confirmation vote, and several prominent GOP senators who have rushed to Trump's defense — including Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and JD Vance of Ohio — did not serve in the Senate at the time.
The 18 currently-serving GOP senators who voted to confirm Chutkan in 2014 include:
- Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming
- Sen. Susan Collins of Maine
- Sen. John Cornyn of Texas
- Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho
- Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas
- Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska
- Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa
- Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota
- Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
- Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
- Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
- Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho
- Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida
- Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
- Sen. John Thune of North Dakota
- Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi