Senate Democrats are scrambling to pack the federal courts with as many judges as they can before President Joe Biden’s mandate is fully erased by President-elect Donald Trump’s. But they cannot do this without the approval of Senate Republicans—an early loyalty test that may reveal which Senators recognize that the will of America’s voting majority is with the incoming administration. It appears some Senate Republicans have failed that test.
Trump demanded that Republican Senators block these judicial appointees. “Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership,” Trump wrote on X. “THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.”
Biden has appointed 221 judges throughout his term, and he is hoping to push through at least a dozen more. Chuck Schumer has reached a reported deal with Republicans to trade four potentially problematic circuit court nominees for more than three times that many additional judges. This gives Schumer and his party a clear path forward. If Senate Republicans allow their confirmations to proceed, Biden can match Trump’s first term record of 234 judges.
Federal judicial appointments are lifetime appointments and hasty approval of activist judges is no small issue. “These judges are as important as those that get appointed to the US Supreme Court.” Kimberly Herman, Executive Director at Southeastern Legal Foundation, said in an interview. “When you look at the Court of Appeals, for many litigants, that’s going to be the court of last resort.”
Many of these nominees are sympathetic to ideologies and policies—such as open borders and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)—that the American people just repudiated. For example, Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon, previously worked for the Mexican American Legal and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which
advocated for open borders and the abolishment of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan lied during her Senate hearing. When asked about her role as lead attorney in a past case, she denied holding that title, only for records from her employer to emerge that referred to as the lead attorney.
Biden’s nomination to U.S. appellate court is no less problematic. Judge Embry Kidd initially failed to disclose his lenient record on child sex-related cases, several of which were reversed by a supervising district judge.
These are the types of judges that Biden wants to fill these critical positions. A Pew Research study shows that Biden’s appointments are predominantly based on racial and gender criteria, with nearly two-thirds of those chosen being women or members of various minority groups. Hermann argued that “Biden nominated attorneys that didn’t have quite the same level of experience with our Constitution and with federal law that those appointed under President Trump had.”
During Trump’s first term, many of his appointees had worked as Supreme Court or circuit court clerks. They had worked long hours and learned how to manage crammed dockets effectively and efficiently.
Now, as we approach a second Trump presidency, Senate Democrats appear to have reached a deal to ram through many of these appointments a lame duck session. Senate Republicans ignored Trump’s plea and instead worked with Schumer to get the Biden judges confirmed. Perhaps Trump’s ability to institute his second-term policies won’t be as straightforward as many expected.
