Stuart Delery had an easy time during a confirmation hearing Tuesday to become the permanent head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Divisionin large part because of the political heat surrounding the man sitting next to him in a Capitol Hill hearing room.
Before Delery even got a chance to speak, Senate Judiciary Committee members spent more than 30 minutes discussing issues dogging the nomination of longtime prosecutor B. Todd Jones to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency has gone without a Senate-confirmed leader since 2006.
