A controversial judicial nominee from President Joe Biden was defeated on Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Democratic-led panel voted 10-11 against Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) as the lone Democrat to side with all Republicans.
Ossoff’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Netburn’s nomination has been broiled in controversy for months over her connections to a 2022 case involving a transgender female being sent to a women’s prison despite being a convicted child rapist and distributor of child pornography.
Republicans said Netburn represented the latest unqualified judicial nominee appointed by Biden to a lifetime position.
“Why on Earth do our Democratic colleagues continue to entertain lifetime promotions for nominees with a demonstrated inability to do their job?” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said. “This sort of gross negligence is damning. It’s disqualifying. And frankly, the Netburn nomination isn’t worth another second of the Judiciary Committee’s time, let alone the Senate’s.”
Democrats argued the concerns were overblown and that Netburn lacked the authority over where the transgender prisoner, whose name is William McClain but goes by July Justine Shelby, served time.
“As a magistrate, she did not have the authority to order this man into the Bureau of Prisons or out of the Bureau of Prisons,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) said. “That authority resided in the district court judge.”
In written responses to GOP members of the committee, Netburn made the same case. She said she could merely make recommendations to the district judge.
“I faithfully applied the law to the facts in reaching my recommendation. The district judge adopted my report and recommendation and concluded it was thorough, detailed, and well-reasoned,” Netburn wrote. “I did not order the Bureau of Prisons to do anything. The district judge ordered the Bureau of Prisons to transfer the petitioner to the female facility.”
Netburn further said the Bureau of Prisons did not challenge the district court judge’s order and that she’s received status letters, “none of which reports any disciplinary or safety issues.”
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Republicans countered that Netburn was part of the process and enabled the prisoner’s placement in a women’s facility, pointing to reports that the inmate has since exposed themselves to female prisoners.
“You get no pass. You get no ‘it’s not my problem’ from our point of view. You had a chance to stop a bad thing, and it’s about your judgment,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the committee’s ranking member. “This is wrong. This is dangerous.”