Top Montana federal attorney nomination held up by Democratic lawmakers

President Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Attorney for Montana is one of 10 federal prosecutor nominees whose confirmations were delayed last week when a Democratic senator objected.

Kurt Alme has served in the position in an interim role since Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him in March. Alme previously served as chief federal law enforcement official in Montana during President Donald Trump’s first term, from 2017 until 2020, after being recommended by Montana U.S. Sen. Steve Daines. His first nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

But twice in the last week during Senate proceedings, Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has requested unanimous consent to confirm 10 U.S. Attorney nominees by voice vote, which would bypass the requirement for roll-call votes.

Ranking committee member Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, objected to Grassley’s request last week, citing a precedent set by then-Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, during the Biden administration, while Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, objected on Monday.

Vance put a limited hold on a limited number of U.S. attorney nominees. Vance further announced in 2023  he intended to place a blanket hold on all Justice Department nominees to “grind it to a halt,” Durbin said in a statement on the Senate floor. As a result, only 68 of Biden’s 76 U.S. attorney nominees made it through the confirmation process.

“I appreciate, Mr. Chairman, that you did not agree with Senator Vance’s actions back then, and I don’t believe you do now, but we can’t have one set of rules for Republican presidents and another for Democratic presidents,” Durbin said.

Grassley responded with remarks on the floor asking Democrats to “relent form their partisan obstruction.”

“Debate and disagreement about policy is to be expected, but it should never come at the expense of public safety,” Grassley said.

A statement from Grassley’s office said the move “forces the Senate to burn valuable hours of floor time” to process the nominations, rather than using the expedited voice vote procedure, and added that 94% of President Biden’s U.S. Attorney nominations were approved by voice vote.

So far during Trump’s second term, only two U.S. Attorney’s have been confirmed by the Senate — Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia, and Jason Reding Quiñones for the South District of Florida — both by roll call vote. Durbin similarly blocked a voice vote on Quiñones’ nominations as well.

In a TV appearance Daines said blocking the nominees was an “unprecedented move.”

“We’ve got to to actually change the rules,” Daines said. “We’re working on that as Republicans so that we can go back to where we used to be, and that was getting these nominees like U.S. attorneys and other sub-cabinet level appointees through the U.S. Senate in a timely fashion.”

In a post on social media Tuesday, Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy said the “historic obstruction is making Montanans less safe.”

In months Alme has served in an interim capacity, he has overseen dozens of criminal and civil cases.

After his first stint as U.S. Attorney, Alme worked for Gov. Greg Gianforte as state budget director at the start of the Republican’s first gubernatorial term. He left the position less than a year later, citing the strain of commuting to Helena from his home in Billings.

Most recently, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Alme served as Executive Vice President for Planned Giving with the National Christian Foundation.