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The Senate confirmed former Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro on Saturday as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, filling one of the nation's most prominent federal prosecutor positions with another television host picked by President Donald Trump.
The 50-45 vote came as Trump pushed the Republican-controlled Senate to work through the weekend approving his nominees more than six months into his second term. Pirro had served in the role on an interim basis since May.
The confirmation makes Pirro the latest media figure to join Trump's administration, joining Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who previously worked at Fox Business after competing on reality television.
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Dick Durbin opposed the nomination, saying Pirro "should never be a permanent US Attorney" and calling her selection a "rubber stamp for Donald Trump."
Durbin cited Pirro's promotion of conspiracy theories related to the 2020 election, in which Trump lost to Joe Biden.
After amplifying unfounded fraud allegations, Pirro was named as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. The network settled the case for nearly $800 million.
Pirro, 74, built her television career hosting the courtroom show "Judge Jeanine Pirro" from 2008 to 2011 before moving to Fox News Channel, where she hosted "Justice with Judge Jeanine" for 11 years and later co-hosted "The Five." She left the network when Trump appointed her to the interim prosecutor role.
Before her media career, Pirro served as district attorney for New York's Westchester County. Trump previously described her as being "in a class by herself."
The D.C. U.S. Attorney position oversees federal prosecutions in the nation's capital, including cases involving government officials and national security matters.
Pirro authored several books, including 2018's "Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy," which The Washington Post described as "sycophantic" in its Trump support.
Her confirmation adds to Trump's pattern of selecting loyal media personalities and political allies for key government positions. Her ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who was convicted of tax evasion during her time as district attorney, received a presidential pardon from Trump during his first term.
The weekend confirmation session also saw Trump's former lawyer Emil Bove approved as a federal appellate judge last week, part of the administration's accelerated push to install nominees across the federal government.
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