Despite Senate Democrats’ efforts to confirm as many of President Biden’s nominees as possible, experts believe President-elect Donald Trump’s chances of selecting justices to the federal bench remain favorable.
In their efforts to select Biden’s judicial nominees before of Trump’s administration and a new Congress beginning in January, the parties reached a midnight arrangement Wednesday after Republicans threatened to stall judicial confirmations earlier this week.
A senior Senate source familiar with the subject told AWN Digital that the agreement would allow Democrats to vote on four district court judges in exchange for withdrawing four higher-tier circuit court judicial candidates.
Trump would then be responsible for filling the four seats.
A representative for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told AWN Digital that the transaction involved four circuit nominees, all of whom lack the necessary votes for confirmation, “for more than triple the number of additional judges moving forward.”
“I’m glad that Republican senators are starting to show up to vote because some of the worst nominees are still awaiting confirmation precisely because they didn’t have adequate support,” Carrie Severino, president of JCN, told AWN Digital.
When queried about the agreement, Devon Ombres, senior director of courts and legal policy at CAPAction, replied, “Frankly, I’m at a loss as to why they would get here.”
“It would be nice to see Democratic leadership and the White House try and push through and fill those vacancies where possible,” according to Ombres.
Schumer addressed the floor on Thursday, stating that they had confirmed six new judges this week alone, including one circuit court judge and five district court judges, bringing Biden’s total number of confirmations to 220. Trump received 234 confirmations during his first term.
Despite the drive, Ombres believes circuit judges nominated mostly by former President George W. Bush will become senior, giving Trump more vacancies to fill. Likewise, Ombres stated that people selected by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama will avoid senior rank.
“[Trump will] still have a handful of vacancies that he’ll be able to appoint,” he said. “But if the Senate Republicans maintain the blue slip process, it will be tougher sledding to appoint in those in blue states, but he will still have an opportunity to bolster where there is already strength, especially the 11th Circuit.”
“When Trump comes into office, he’s going to have dozens more vacancies to fill,” Severino said CNN. “And that’s not even counting the judges who will take senior status over the next four years.”
According to a Senate Democrat leadership aide familiar with the accord, the plan allows the Senate to vote on cloture on nine district court justices this week and then confirm them when they return after Thanksgiving.
The source also stated that the new agreement did not mean Republicans would let the Biden district judges to pass without resistance. GOP senators are anticipated to oppose and vote against the Democratic-nominated judges, as they have during Biden’s term.
“I think certainly appellate judges are always going to be more important in our judicial system than district court judges,” he remarked. “But district court judges are still capable of instituting nationwide injunctions and striking down programs and issuing sweeping opinions.”
The Senate pause was led by Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., who was just chosen as the next Republican Senate leader. Republicans attempted to stall the confirmation process using tactical moves on the floor.
Trump has already spoken out against judicial confirmations during the lame-duck session, saying on Truth Social, “No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!”
Shortly after the November 5 election, Senate Democrats began to crank up their efforts to confirm Biden’s judicial selections, Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Brian Hughes told AWN Digital in a statement, “In his first term, President Trump appointed constitutionalist judges who interpret the law as written.” “He will do it again.”
“He had a wonderful record last time around, and I hope he’s going to have a similar track record this time of putting up principled and highly qualified nominees,” Severino told the press.