DOJ Nominees and Senate Judiciary Democrats Spar Over Obeying Court Rulings

Three nominees testified to a Senate panel.

(L–R) John Sauer, nominee to be U.S. solicitor general; Aaron Reitz, nominee to be assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy; and Harmeet Dhillon, nominee to be the assistant attorney general for civil rights, are sworn in before testifying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on Feb. 26, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 26 grilled several individuals poised to take top positions in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on whether officials should always obey court rulings.

“It would be too case specific for me to say, to make a blanket statement about that,” Aaron Reitz, who has been nominated to lead the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy, told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a confirmation hearing in Washington.