Grassley Opens Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Antitrust AAG, Judges and Commissioner Nominees

Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Nominations Wednesday, August 5, 2026 Good morning, I’d like to welcome everyone to today’s hearing. Today, we’ll have two panels. The first panel features Anna St. John, who is nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Our second panel has four nominees: Gregory Cook, to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Adam Candeub, to be the assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division. John Cronan and Jason Manion, to be commissioners on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. I’ll keep my remarks brief since we have two panels. All of today’s nominees are highly qualified and reflect diverse backgrounds in law and public service. They continue President Trump’s trend of nominating top-tier people for our country’s most important roles. I have the personal honor today of introducing three of our five nominees. So, I’ll get right to it. First, Adam Candeub has been nominated to serve as an assistant attorney general to oversee the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. His career spans public service, private practice and academia. After graduating from Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School, Mr. Candeub clerked on the Ninth Circuit and practiced law at two major firms for the better part of a decade. Mr. Candeub then entered public service as an attorney-advisor at the Federal Communications Commission. For the two decades thereafter, he was a professor at Michigan State University Law School, where he taught many areas of the law, including antitrust and criminal law. Notably, at the end of President Trump’s first term, Mr. Candeub briefly returned to public service as the Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and then as the deputy associate attorney general with the Justice Department. During President Trump’s second term, Mr. Candeub has served as general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission. Throughout his career, he’s done important work. His scholarship and legal advocacy focused on protecting children from exposure to pornography and other obscene materials. He’s also been a strong advocate for free speech, fighting censorship by social media companies during the Biden administration. Next, Judge Cronan’s been nominated to serve on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. As a federal judge, he obviously knows a thing or two about the sentencing guidelines that the commission sets forth, and his understanding of criminal law stems from his career of public service. Before joining the bench, Judge Cronan served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. He was also the chief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics unit. Judge Cronan oversaw more than 100 investigations and prosecuted a wide array of crimes, including complex national security cases against foreign terrorists. His career featured additional positions with the Justice Department. He served as the principal deputy assistant attorney general and acting assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division. Since 2020, Judge Cronan has served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He’s done a great job, and I thank him for his service. Finally, Jason Manion has also been nominated to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. He brings a distinguished career that has spanned all three branches of government. After graduating from Harvard Law, Mr. Manion clerked twice on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He’s served as a deputy solicitor general for the state of Ohio. And he’s also worked in support of this committee, as a special counsel for my colleague, Senator Cruz. Since 2022, Mr. Manion has served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Ohio. As a federal prosecutor, he’s handled many cases and appeals dealing with sentencing issues and the sentencing guidelines. During President Trump’s second term, Mr. Manion has held multiple significant roles on detail from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He’s served as counselor and chief of staff to the associate attorney general and then the attorney general. He’s currently a general counsel and senior advisor for the White House’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. -30-