Time is breathing down the necks of the US Democrats. They want to confirm as many federal judges in the US Senate as possible before Trump takes office. Because the Republicans will soon take control of the House of Representatives.
The Democrats in the US Senate want to use their majority to rush through federal judges before Republican Donald Trump takes office. The quick confirmation of the judges is intended to avoid leaving any vacancies that Trump could fill after taking office as the new US President on January 20th. “We will make as many appointments as possible,” emphasized Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The U.S. Constitution gives the Senate the power to confirm the president's nominations for lifetime seats on the federal judiciary. On January 3, Republicans take control of the House chamber.
Biden has 31 Judge candidates announced
On Tuesday, for the first time since Trump's victory in the November 5 election, the Senate will vote on a judge nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden: former prosecutor April Perry, a nominee for U.S. district judge in Illinois.
In total, Biden has announced 31 judicial nominees who are still awaiting Senate confirmation, including Perry. She is one of 17 nominees already reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now awaiting final confirmation by the full Senate. Another 14 nominees await committee consideration.
Biden has confirmed 213 judges so far
Confirmation of justices requires a simple majority. The Democrats currently have 51 votes to the Republicans' 49 votes. The Democrats therefore cannot afford failures or absences.
Biden has appointed a number of liberal judges during his term in office. Since the start of his presidency in 2021, the Senate has confirmed 213 Biden judicial nominees, including liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. It remains to be seen how many nominations Senate Democrats can confirm.
Conservative judges already make up the majority on the Supreme Court
Trump has appointed 234 justices in his first four years in office, the second-most of any president in a single term, and he has succeeded in shifting the judiciary to the right – including building a six-to-three conservative majority on the Supreme Court , the U.S. Supreme Court, with three appointed justices.
Trump's appointed justices have been involved in major decisions that have been welcomed by conservatives – including Supreme Court rulings that restrict abortion rights, expand gun rights and limit the powers of federal agencies.
