U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, says she plans to block the confirmation of President Trump’s choice to be the new United States Attorney for eastern Washington.
Pete Serrano is the former mayor of Pasco and was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Washington attorney general last year. He was appointed U.S. attorney Aug. 6 by Attorney General Pam Bondi. He stepped down as Pasco mayor and began his new job in Spokane five days later. But his confirmation hearing will not occur until sometime in the next four months.
Serrano, 44, ran for attorney general on a platform to protect gun rights and prohibit abortions. During that campaign he also called people jailed for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol “political prisoners.”
“His extreme right-wing views are far out of step with the people of Washington state, and I will be using every legislative tool I have to block his confirmation,” Murray said in a press release.
The Senate must confirm Serrano within 120 days of his appointment. But he faces a difficult path without Murray’s support.
Murray’s options to block him include either declining to return a so-called blue slip for Serrano or returning the form with a negative response. Each option would effectively veto the nomination. While getting the blue slip is not a requirement for appointment to the U.S. attorney role, it’s a longstanding practice that has allowed senators a check on who the president appoints to be the top federal prosecutors in their states.
According to the Congressional Research Service, only three nominees for U.S. attorney were confirmed between 1956 and 2016 without the support of both of their state’s senators.
Trump has ramped up pressure on Senate Republicans to end the blue slip process after his former defense attorney, Alina Habba, faced opposition from both of New Jersey’s Democratic senators to serve as U.S. attorney in that state.
Habba, who is serving on an interim basis, has launched investigations against New Jersey’s Democratic governor and attorney general over the state’s immigration policies. Bondi recently reappointed Habba as interim after she failed to be confirmed because of the blue slip process. Her current authority is being challenged in court.
But top Republicans have defended the practice. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a recent social media post that a nominee without a blue slip would not have enough votes to get the job.
Washington’s other senator, Maria Cantwell, also a Democrat, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Serrano did not return messages from Cascade PBS requesting comment.
Serrano told the Washington State Standard in late July, after his appointment, that he knew he faced an uphill battle.
“For now, I’m going to do my job serving the people of the Eastern District as best I can. If that’s not good enough, I guess I don’t know what is,” Serrano told the Washington State Standard.
The Eastern District of Washington covers the 20 counties east of the Cascade Range, the most conservative part of the state. Serrano leads a team of nearly 80 prosecutors and support staff, and will supervise the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of civil matters involving the United States.
That mostly includes federal crimes like drug trafficking, human trafficking, interstate fraud, counterfeiting and child sex offenses.
For instance, Serrano will oversee the prominent cases brought recently against Spokane activists who protested immigrant arrests in June.
Serrano’s predecessor, Stephanie Van Marter, an interim appointee who held the job for less than a month, brought federal felony charges in July against nine people who had protested outside Spokane’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices. They allegedly blocked an ICE van that officers were going to use to bring two immigrants they’d arrested to a federal facility in Tacoma for deportation. The detained men were in the U.S. legally seeking asylum.
Trump’s reelection set off a revolving door of defections in the Spokane office. Former U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref resigned in February. The first interim U.S. attorney this year was Richard Barker, and the second was Van Marter.
The Washington State Democrats warned against Serrano’s appointment, calling it “a clear attempt to further entrench partisan influence within our legal institutions,” state Democrats said.
“This matters to all of us here in Washington. The U.S. Attorney’s office handles everything from fighting crime to protecting voting rights and holding powerful interests accountable,” the state party said in a statement. “We can’t let it become a partisan weapon that undermines our values and safety.”
Serrano moved from California to Pasco in 2015. He worked as an environmental lawyer for the U.S. Department of Energy, and is also the former leader of the Franklin County Republican Party.
In addition to resigning as Pasco mayor, Serrano left his position as director and general counsel for the Silent Majority Foundation, a conservative nonprofit he founded that wants to “halt and rein in government overreach,” according to its website. The SMF unsuccessfully challenged Washington’s COVID mandates and the state’s ban on gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
While working for the SMF, Serrano represented controversial evangelical pastor Sean Feucht in a $2 million lawsuit against the city of Spokane after its City Council formally denounced former Mayor Nadine Woodward for appearing at Feucht’s 2023 “Let Us Worship” concert.
Last year, Serrano joined right-wing video journalist Jonathan Choe on the streets of Spokane to interview homeless people. The people they talked with told them it was easier to find drugs than safety in Spokane.
“You know, it’s interesting,” Serrano said on the video. “People talk about ‘Seattle this, Seattle that,’ but Spokane obviously has its issues, too, and what I’m hearing is that they’re not being heard.”
When Serrano was announced as the U.S. attorney nominee, Choe praised the choice. “I went into Spokane’s drug dens with Serrano last year. The guy is fearless but also compassionate. Huge win for the state,” Choe said.
