The Senate has confirmed President Trump’s former criminal defense attorney Emil Bove to a lifetime appointment as a federal appellate judge for the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals.

The 50-49 Senate vote was largely along party lines with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting against Bove’s confirmation to the federal bench.

Bove’s nomination was strongly contested by Democrats who brought forth three Justice Department whistleblowers who alleged that he recommended that the Trump administration ignore court order attempting to disrupt the president’s immigration agenda.

On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said that his office looked into the whistleblower allegations and followed up with additional interviews, but found no misconduct by Bove.

Grassley said Democrats had “crossed a line” in their opposition to Bove and failed to share whistleblower documentation in a timely manner, stating, “If my Democratic colleagues wanted to investigate allegations, they should have come to this senator and we could have vetted the allegations in good faith together.”

Before joining the Justice Department, Bove represented Trump in the criminal probes launched by the Biden administration over the retention of classified documents and alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

Those cases were eventually dismissed following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.

Trump nominated Bove in May to become a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overseeing federal precedent in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.