President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans started a rush Tuesday to confirm as many judicial nominees as possible before they lose their majority in January, including the announcement of three new nominees.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance four judicial nominees to the Senate floor, teed up more committee votes on six other pending bench picks and held a confirmation hearing for another four.
Trump then announced new nominees for the Texas and South Carolina federal bench in three Truth Social posts. Word had already gotten out about two of the nominees because they had submitted confirmation paperwork to the committee just after Democrats won control of the Senate in the midterms.
That includes James Sullivan, who lost his race to be reelected to the Texas Supreme Court. “Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn highly recommend him!” Trump said of Sullivan.
Trending
Cornyn posted on X after Tuesday’s meeting to reiterate his support for Sullivan: “An election result does not diminish a record of ability and integrity. He should be confirmed.”
That support was not noted for Elliot Gaiser, head of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, who Cornyn had reportedly said did not go through the “usual process” of judicial selection in the state.
Gaiser wrote in the paperwork that he was contacted by Cruz’s staff the day after the election, discussed a possible nomination with Cornyn’s staff on Nov. 6 and was contacted by the White House that same day.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the panel, said Republicans were breaking the rules by trying to jam judicial nominees into positions of the federal district court before Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas) is sworn in on Jan. 3 and would have sway over who is selected.
“The defeat of the Republicans in Texas has created a scramble for lifetime appointments to the federal bench,” Durbin said.
Committee Chair Chuck Grassley said during Tuesday’s committee action that he intends to move as quickly as possible — and there is no committee rule against moving fast on confirmations.
Grassley also accused Democrats of using “unprecedented levels of obstruction to stall” the process of confirming the president’s nominees.
“Considering judicial nominations is some of the most important work that this committee does,” Grassley said. “As chairman, it’s been my priority to ensure that the federal benches are filled with judges who will uphold our constitutional rule of law.”
Trump also indicated in a social media post that judges should be a priority for Republicans: “Very important for the U.S. Senate to confirm all of our pending 161 Nominations, including 25 Federal Judges.”
Cornyn told The Washington Sun he’s unsure if Republicans will be able to push all of the president’s remaining nominees through to confirmation in time.
“That’s going to be very hard,” Cornyn said. “But I think we ought to get as many people as we can.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) told The Sun that he’s “frustrated” with Trump’s recent nominees for judgeships and warned his Republican colleagues against breaking Senate norms to speed through the empty bench seats.
“The people of Texas have spoken,” Booker said. “Now we’re seeing Texas leadership, through Trump … trying to take advantage of the process and shove through a lot of judges to keep James Talarico from having a say.”
And Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said some of Trump’s recent nominations are attempts to place politically “compromised” judges on the federal bench, such as former administration officials.
“They’re nominated because of their political positions and their personal loyalties, and perhaps their involvement in corrupt schemes,” Blumenthal said. “Because the Department of Justice has become an enabler for corruption in this administration.”
Author
