WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced Alabama Supreme Court Associate Justice Greg Cook’s nomination to serve as a federal judge for the Northern District of Alabama.
The panel split along party lines in a 12-10 vote to send Cook’s nomination to the full Senate.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., a member of the committee, voted in favor of the Florence native who she previously called “one of Alabama’s finest,” with an “impeccable record of service.”
The committee’s top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, voiced his opposition to Cook, denouncing the nominee who identified as “Trump-tough” during his 2022 run for the Alabama Supreme Court. Durbin also called out Cook for some of his other past comments and connections to the GOP.
“That is cold comfort to litigants who have different political views than the justice,” Durbin said ahead of the vote. “They have no reason to believe he will treat them fairly.”
Cook previously served as general counsel for the Alabama Republican Party from 2017 to 2021. He also spent time on the Jefferson County Republican Steering Committee.
In 2000, Cook was a volunteer attorney for the Bush v. Gore legal battle in Florida, where he oversaw the hand recounting of ballots, according to his 2022 campaign website. He was also a delegate for Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
During his nomination hearing last month, Cook sidestepped Democratic questions on the results of the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Cook did not answer a direct question from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., about who won the 2020 election.
“A joint session of Congress certified that Joseph Biden won the election and therefore, as a matter of law, he was the winner,” Cook responded.
Speaking about Jan. 6, the federal nominee also said during his confirmation hearing that he was “hesitant to use the word attack” to describe the riot “because it would be something that would apply to everybody.” But he did add that “some” people attacked the Capitol in 2021.
The 2020 election has been frequently used as a litmus test for Trump’s political appointees during confirmation hearings.
President Donald Trump nominated Cook for the federal bench in June. A graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School, Cook was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2022.
He previously practiced law at Balch & Bingham LLP for three decades and before that served in the U.S. Air Force.
The committee also voted 16-6 Thursday to advance William Gerald Hardy to serve as U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Alabama. He was sworn in as the acting marshal earlier this month.
Under Trump’s second term, the Senate has already confirmed Eddie LaCour and Hal Mooty to serve as judges for the Northern District of Alabama and Bill Lewis for the Middle District.