‘No excuse’: Dems have just weeks to get dozens of Biden’s judicial nominees confirmed

As Congress enters the lame duck session Tuesday with Republicans set to take the majority in both chambers and the White House next year, Senate Democrats have just a few weeks to get dozens of President Joe Biden's remaining judicial nominees confirmed. Barring impeachment, a federal judge is appointed for life and cannot be forcibly removed.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is urging her colleagues to prioritize judicial confirmations.

"While still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must do all we can to safeguard our democracy," Sen. Warren wrote in a TIME op-ed last week. "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the end-of-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators—none of whom can be removed by the next President."

Majority Leader Schumer, The New York Times reported late last week, "indicated a willingness to devote significant Senate floor time to seating more judges in the post-election session...About 30 nominees were already in the confirmation pipeline, and Mr. Biden announced two more on Friday night."

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“We are going to get as many done as we can,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement.

Noting that this is Senate Democrats' last chance "until at least 2029 to put judges on the courts," journalist and attorney Chris Geidner breaks down the field. He reports, "there are four appellate nominees awaiting a vote of the full Senate and one awaiting committee action. The four nominees awaiting a floor vote are Karla Campbell (Sixth Circuit), Embry Kidd (Eleventh Circuit), Julia Lipez (First Circuit), Adeel Mangi (Third Circuit), and the nominee in committee is Ryan Park (Fourth Circuit)."

He adds, "there are 13 district court nominees awaiting a vote of the full Senate, meanwhile, with 10 more in committee and two more announced."

Josh Sorbe, spokesperson for U.S. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, in a statement to NCRM says the Illinois Democrat "aims to confirm every possible nominee before the end of this Congress." He also points to the "213 highly qualified, diverse judges to date who help ensure the fair and impartial administration of the American justice system."

Over the weekend, President-elect Trump issued a warning to Senate Republicans, and ordered that "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."

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Biden White House spokesperson Andrew Bates blasted Trump.

"Regardless of party, the American people expect their leaders to prioritize the rule of law and ensuring the criminal justice system can function effectively in every state. Delaying the confirmation of strongly qualified, experienced judges takes a real-life toll on constituents and leads to backlogs of criminal cases - meaning there is every urgent reason for Republicans and Democrats to continue working together in good faith to staff the federal bench," he wrote Monday. "What's more, there is bipartisan precedent for exactly that: 55 nominees were confirmed during the equivalent period of the Trump Administration, after President Biden was elected, including 18 judges-15 of whom were confirmed with votes from one or more Senate Democrats. There is no excuse for choosing partisanship over enforcing the rule of law."

Professor of law Steve Vladeck, an expert on the federal courts and constitutional law, writes: "During the lame-duck period after the 2020 election, Republicans confirmed a number of President Trump’s judicial nominees—including Judge Aileen Cannon."

Wednesday will be Judge Cannon's four-year anniversary on the federal bench.

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