Democrats enter lame-duck race to confirm Biden judicial picks

Senate Democrats will look to press forward with confirming more of President Joe Biden’s judicial picks during the lame-duck session, their last opportunity before Republicans regain the majority and President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.

The weeks between now and the start of the 119th Congress will determine if Biden and Democrats can exceed the number of lifetime judicial appointments Trump made during his first administration.

As of Tuesday evening, Biden needs to secure 20 lifetime judicial confirmations in the lame-duck session to match the 234 such confirmations of Trump appointees, according to tracking from groups Alliance For Justice and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

There are more than two dozen Biden judicial nominees who are in various stages of the confirmation process, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

A Senate Judiciary Committee social media account posted Tuesday afternoon that “we’re laser-focused on confirming every possible remaining nominee.”

The Senate on Tuesday voted 51-44 to confirm April M. Perry as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. And the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled votes Thursday on more Biden judicial nominees.

Every confirmation of a Biden nominee to a lifetime role would leave one less vacancy for Trump to fill during his new term. Republicans anticipate a wide runway to confirm conservative federal judges in the new Congress, with a second Trump administration and a Republican majority in the Senate.

Trump, over the weekend, mentioned judicial confirmations in a social media post about recess appointments.

“Additionally, no Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE,” the post read. The post did not specify what time period he was referring to.

There is a recent history of judges being confirmed during a lame-duck session. In 2020, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to continue confirming both U.S. appellate and district court nominees through the lame-duck session.

During a floor speech on Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin praised the Biden administration’s track record on judicial nominations, particularly its focus on racial diversity.

“I’m especially proud of the committee’s contributions to one of the most important accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration: confirming highly qualified, independent, even-handed judges to the federal bench,” the Illinois Democrat said.

During the remaining session weeks, Democrats will have to navigate a slim 51-49 majority and a time crunch before the current Congress ends. Democratic leadership could also have to work around Sen. Joe Manchin III, I-W.Va., who previously has said he will not support Biden judicial nominees unless they have support from at least one Republican.

Carrie Severino, president of the conservative group JCN, said in a social media post that having Senate Republicans in full attendance during the lame-duck session is the “simplest and most effective way to try to block any more radical Biden judicial nominees from being confirmed.”

“It’s critical that Republican Senators show up during the lame duck session to try and block any more radical and unfit Biden judicial nominees from being confirmed to lifetime positions on the federal bench,” Severino said in another post.

Other groups are urging Senate Democrats to prioritize confirming Biden’s judicial nominations. Lena Zwarensteyn with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said in a statement that it’s “critically important” that senators “immediately vote on all of President Biden’s judicial nominees.”

“Every lifetime nomination must be confirmed before the end of the 118th Congress,” Zwarensteyn said. “For our democracy and for our communities, the confirmation of judges now is both urgent and necessary to ensure we have more jurists across the country who will uphold the rule of law and advance equal justice.”

Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way, said in a statement that “every single judge matters.”

“We have an historic opportunity to finish the year strong by confirming all of President Biden’s remaining judicial nominees and surpassing the number of judges confirmed by Trump in his first term,” Myrick said.

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