Experts say President-elect Donald Trump’s chances of appointing judges to the federal bench remain positive, despite Senate Democrats’ push to confirm as many of President Biden’s picks as possible.
Amid their efforts to appoint Biden’s judicial picks ahead of Trump’s administration and a new Congress starting in January, both parties struck a midnight deal Wednesday after Republicans planned to slow down judicial confirmations earlier this week.
The agreement would allow Democrats to hold votes on four district court judges in exchange for pulling four higher-tier circuit court judicial nominees, a senior Senate source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
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The four vacancies would then be Trump’s to fill.
A Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spokesperson told Fox News Digital the trade included four circuit nominees – all of which lack votes to get confirmed – “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 Fox News Digital.
When asked about the deal, Devon Ombres, senior director of courts and legal policy at CAPAction said, “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,” Ombres said.
Schumer addressed the floor Thursday, saying they had confirmed six new judges this past week alone – one circuit court judge and five district court judges, bringing Biden’s total number of confirmations to 220. Trump notably secured 234 confirmations during his first term.
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Despite the push, Ombres stated he predicts circuit judges appointed primarily by former president George W. Bush will take senior status, which would then give Trump additional vacancies to fill. Likewise, Ombres said those appointed by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama will avoid taking senior status.
“[Trump will] still have a handful of vacancies that he’ll be able to appoint,” Ombres 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. “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 agreement reached, the deal allowed for the Senate to vote on cloture on nine district court judges this week and vote to confirm them when they return after Thanksgiving.
The source also noted that the new deal did not mean Republicans were going to allow the Biden district judges to sail through without opposition. GOP senators are still expected to fight and vote against the Democrat-nominated judges as they have done throughout Biden’s term.
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“I think certainly appellate judges are always going to be more important in our judicial system than district court judges,” Ombres said. “But district court judges are still capable of instituting nationwide injunctions and striking down programs and issuing sweeping opinions.”
The Senate slowdown was spearheaded by Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., who was recently elected as the next Republican Senate leader. Republicans sought to delay the confirmation process through tactical maneuvers on the floor.
Trump has previously been vocal about not wanting judicial confirmations during the lame-duck session, writing on Truth Social, “No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!”
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Shortly after Senate Dems began to ramp up energy to confirm Biden’s judicial picks after the Nov. 5 election, Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Brian Hughes told Fox News Digital in a statement, “In his first term, President Trump appointed constitutionalist judges who interpret the law as written. He will do so 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 said.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
