Biden Set To Outpace Trump In Filling Judicial Vacancies As Senate Democrats Stay United In Race Against The Clock

Senate Democrats are racing against the clock to confirm President Joe Biden‘s federal judiciary nominees before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and they lose their Senate majority. As of Dec. 5, the Senate confirmed 45 judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals and 181 to U.S. district courts. During his first term, Trump got 54 judges to the Court of Appeals and 174 judges to the district courts. 

At the current pace, Biden is likely to narrowly surpass Trump in his total number of confirmed judges. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) told Senate colleagues that the Democratic majority is working to confirm as many of Biden’s judicial nominees as possible before the year ends. To accomplish this, the Senate will hold late nights and work over the weekends. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) commented on the possible weekend voting, “I wouldn’t rule those out, and Schumer has not ruled them out either. I hope that the Republicans will at least be cooperative with us as we were with them.”

Schumer tried to use procedural votes to advance nominations, but Republicans prolonged the process by forcing Democrats to vote on procedural motions in both executive and legislative sessions.

Bouncing between legislative and executive sessions is a classic move of the minority party.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) urged Schumer in a Time magazine piece to “use every minute of the end-of-the-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators – none of whom can be removed by the next president.”

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