Senate Dems race to confirm Biden judges ahead of Trump’s presidency

Senate Democrats are rushing to confirm as many of President Biden’s judicial picks as possible ahead of a Trump presidency, according to reports. Several of the nominees have previously come under fire by Republicans.

Democrats so far have confirmed 215 of Biden’s judicial picks, and the Senate most recently confirmed Jonathan E. Hawley as a U.S. District Judge for the Central District of Illinois on Wednesday. 

He was confirmed in a 50-46 vote. 

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However, Biden’s confirmation numbers continue to trail President-elect Trump’s 234 confirmations during his first term, including three to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been vocal in recent days about prioritizing judicial confirmations during the lame-duck session, tweeting Wednesday, “We’re going to confirm every possible federal judge in the lame-duck session.”

Along with Hawley’s confirmation this week, the Senate also confirmed April M. Perry to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, while Democrats also moved Embry Kidd’s nomination process forward to serve as a circuit court judge for the 11th Circuit. 

Several of Biden’s nominees, however, have come under Republican fire during hearings. 

Kidd, a district judge in the Middle District of Florida, made headlines this summer after he failed to disclose on his questionnaire at least two child sex-related cases he ruled on and later had his rulings reversed, according to a report by the Washington Examiner.

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Anthony J. Brindisi, a former Democratic representative who serves on the New York State Court of Claims in Utica, New York, and was tapped by Biden in July, was the target of various lines of questioning in which he attempted to frame himself as a jurist versus a politician. 

“On the bench, are you a politician or a judge?” Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked him during the hearing. 

“I’m a judge, senator,” Brindisi responded. 

Despite Democrats’ efforts to kick judicial confirmations into high gear, Senate Democrats have expressed concern over Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin’s ability to block Trump’s judicial agenda once he takes over the Oval Office in January, according to a recent report by Axios. 

The report said multiple Democrats cited Durbin’s age as a major factor. Durbin is 79 years old. 

“Sen. Durbin has successfully led the Judiciary Committee for the past four years as chair — leading to 215, and counting, lifetime judges confirmed during the Biden administration,” Durbin’s office told Fox News Digital in a statement. “And as a senior Democratic member of the committee during the first Trump administration, Sen. Durbin served as a crucial voice pushing back against the unqualified Trump judicial nominees. Simply put, he’s been an outstanding chair and stands ready to continue to lead his colleagues as ranking member in the 119th Congress.”

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Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., who will be the new Republican Senate leader after he won in a secret ballot on Wednesday, will serve a crucial role in advancing Trump’s judicial agenda in the Senate. Thune wrote in an op-ed earlier this week that Senate Republicans will work with the president-elect to confirm his nominees and pass “our shared agenda.” 

“As Congress returns to Washington, we must prepare the Senate to advance that agenda legislatively and ensure that the president-elect can hit the ground running with his appointees confirmed as soon as possible,” Thune wrote. 

Trump took to social media on Sunday to voice his opinion on the matter, writing, “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. THANK YOU!”

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“In his first term, President Trump appointed constitutionalist judges who interpret the law as written. He will do so again,” Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance transition spokesperson, told Fox News Digital in a statement.