The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 along party lines to advance the nomination of U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz of the Western District of Tennessee to serve as a judge on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The panel did so after U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn blasted the White House for selecting Ritz to fill a vacancy on that court over the objections of herself and her fellow Tennessee Republican senator, Bill Hagerty.

"The White House rushed through a backroom deal to put Kevin Ritz in this seat," she said. "And by so doing, they have nominated a man whose lack of professional ethics unquestionably disqualifies him from federal judicial service."

A spokesperson for Ritz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans had grilled Ritz when he appeared before the committee on April 17 about an ethics complaint they said had been filed against him alleging that he misrepresented the terms of a plea deal to a defendant’s lawyer in 2008 in a case he was prosecuting.

Ritz at the hearing denied doing anything wrong and said he was unaware of a complaint that had been filed with the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Democratic chair, on Thursday noted that the office often resolves ethics complaints without ever even notifying the subject when they are deemed meritless.

He called the Republicans' treatment of Ritz "disappointing," noting the committee just two years ago unanimously advanced his nomination to become the top federal prosecutor in Memphis.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the only reason Ritz's nomination had become a matter of discussion was "because we nuked the blue slip on circuit judges."

By custom, home state senators historically have been required to return a form called a "blue slip" for any judicial nominees from their states to be considered by the committee.

But during the Trump administration, the Republican-led Senate ceased requiring blue slips for appellate court nominees. Durbin has maintained that standard, though he said Thursday he was open to discussing reinstating it after the 2024 presidential election.

"We should do it prospectively, not knowing the outcome of an election that may change the presidency or may not," Durbin said. "That is a fair way to approach it. If there is any member of the committee who wants to start an active conversation along those lines, I would be glad to join in."

Read more:

Biden nominates Tennessee prosecutor to US appeals court

Biden gains 6th Circuit vacancy to fill as Gibbons takes senior status

U.S. Senate confirms Biden appellate judge pick opposed by home state senators