Last week, President Trump nominated Justice Department official Emil Bove to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Emil is exactly the kind of person we need on the federal bench right now. The Senate should confirm him quickly.
Emil has spent his legal career in defense of the Constitution and the rule of law. For twelve years, he served as a prosecutor in Manhattan, working to keep America safe and put bad guys behind bars. As a federal prosecutor, Emil handled some of our country’s most challenging national security cases, even helping to lead the indictment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on drug charges.
Leaving the Justice Department in 2022 to enter private practice, Emil again defended law and order—this time from abuse by overzealous partisan prosecutors. Emil helped to defend President Trump against Democrat lawfare in Washington and in New York courtrooms. As a defense attorney during these politicized prosecutions, Emil saw firsthand how a partisan prosecutor, like Jack Smith or Alvin Bragg, can abuse the authority of his office to target and harass a political opponent.
Earlier this year, Emil returned to the Justice Department to serve as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General. At Main Justice, Emil has worked hand in hand with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and other senior leaders to restore trust in the Justice Department and end the Biden Administration’s weaponization of law enforcement. Emil helps to manage the daily operation of the Justice Department, overseeing the Department’s vast investigative and prosecutorial structure.
Emil is well-qualified to serve as a federal appellate judge. He has the traditional qualifications and the necessary experience. He’s a talented lawyer who has edited a law journal, held prestigious clerkships at both the district and appellate court levels, and worked as an associate at a high-powered law firm. He’s been a federal prosecutor and a partner in a criminal defense firm. By any of the usual metrics applied to judicial nominations, Emil passes with flying colors.
But what makes Emil an exceptional choice to be a federal judge is his perspective and his temperament. Emil has worked in our justice system as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. He’s seen our justice system at its best—putting terrorists behind bars—and at its worst—manipulating the law to try to influence an election. There’s no doubt that these experiences have shaped Emil into a judge who will be fair-minded and even-handed.
We need public servants like Emil now more than ever. In the four months since the inauguration, Americans have seen an activist federal judiciary emboldened to block President Trump’s agenda. Unlike any time in recent memory, judges are substituting their policy preferences for those of the elected branches, obstructing the Administration’s policies and subverting the democratic will of the American people.
The American people gave President Trump a mandate last November. It’s a mandate to secure our borders and restore the rule of law. It’s a mandate to return common sense to our country. And it’s a mandate to appoint judges to our federal courts who know their job is to faithfully apply the law—not to insert their own policy objectives.
President Trump could not have picked a better nominee than Emil Bove to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Emil is humble, has a brilliant legal mind, and a deep respect for the rule of law. He will make an excellent judge. The Third Circuit, the federal judiciary, and our country will be better served once he is confirmed.