Trump admin live updates: Trump, Schumer trade barbs over Senate nominations

The U.S. Senate on Saturday voted to confirm the nomination of former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

The vote was 50-45.

As U.S. attorney, Pirro serves as Washington, D.C.'s, top prosecutor and also -- unique among federal prosecutors' offices nationwide -- prosecutes local crimes in the city.

Referencing her experience as a judge and prosecutor, Pirro has said as the top federal prosecutor in D.C. she will take on violence in the city.

Pirro had been serving in the position since May when President Donald Trump appointed her to the interim position. Pirro replaced Trump's first pick for the job, Ed Martin, who had served in the temporary post but lost GOP support to be confirmed for the job. Martin's past, specifically his defense of Jan. 6 rioters and inflammatory rhetoric around the Capitol attack, plagued his nomination.

Pirro has been a longtime ally of Trump, dating back to her time as a prominent prosecutor in New York. She was an early supporter of his 2016 campaign.

President Donald Trump threw cold water on a potential deal between Democrats and Republicans that would have moved a block of president's nominees across the floor in exchange for the White House unfreezing some of the funds it's been withholding.

Trump said on social media Saturday the potential agreement would be "embarrassing to the Republican Party."

"Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL! Do not accept the offer, go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country." Trump wrote.

It is not clear what the specifics of that deal would've been despite Trump's claims about the demands from Democrats.

As the Senate prepared to break for its August recess, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed Trump for scuttling a deal on nominations.

"The two sides disagree on a whole lot of things, but we were serious about trying to make some progress, but ultimately, Trump wouldn't agree," Schumer told reporters. "He took his ball. He went home, leaving Democrats and Republicans alike wondering what the hell happened."

Referring to Trump's social media post, Schumer said that Trump "didn't get his way," and that "he bullied us, he cajoled us, he called us names, and he went home with nothing."

"One of these days, Trump is going to have to learn that he needs to work with Democrats to help the American people," Schumer said.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Allison Pecorin and Lauren Minore

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel confirmed Saturday that it has opened an investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith and whether he violated the Hatch Act through his criminal investigations into President Donald Trump.

The investigation follows a referral from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas earlier this week that asked the OSC to investigate Smith for his investigative and prosecutorial activities prior to the 2024 election which Cotton argued were intended to harm Trump's political prospects.

Both Smith and former Attorney General Merrick Garland repeatedly maintained prior to departing office that none of the actions taken in either the classified documents investigation or the probe of Trump's efforts to subvert his 2020 election loss were driven by politics.

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin

William Beach, the former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics who was nominated by President Donald Trump and led the agency during his first term, has condemned the firing of his successor, calling it "totally groundless" and warning that it "sets a dangerous precedent."

"The totally groundless firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as Commissioner of Labor Statistics at BLS, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau," he posted on X.

In a longer statement he co-signed, he called on Congress to investigate the matter and "strongly urged" that McEntarfer continue to serve, warning that her firing "undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics" that are "the gold standard globally."

"When leaders of other nations have politicized economic data, it has destroyed public trust in all official statistics and in government science," Beach wrote alongside colleagues from the "Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics" group.

-ABC News' Ben Siegel