WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Emil Bove as a federal judge, installing a Trump loyalist who presided over a tumultuous period at the Justice Department on a crucial appeals court.
The Republican-majority Senate voted 50-49 to confirm Bove, who has been serving as a senior Justice Department official, to a lifetime appointment on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Moderate Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joined all Democrats in opposition.
Bove overcame fierce opposition from Democrats, who walked out in protest when the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced his nomination, and more than 900 former Justice Department employees, who accused Bove of undermining the integrity of the department.
"This is a dark, dark day, a dark vote and a dangerous nominee Republicans have confirmed," Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said following the vote.
