Donald Trump has wasted no time announcing nominees for his upcoming administration and laying out parts of his radical policy agenda. But in the final weeks of their administration, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are looking to leave their mark, and a major focus has been a renewed push to confirm federal judges whose appointments had previously been blocked by Republicans. This renewed effort to confirm a slate of lifetime appointments could help shape the federal judiciary for years to come.
Harris has a role to play as Democrats look to match Trump judicial appointments
One of the most significant impacts of the first Trump presidency was its role in shaping the judiciary. Republicans confirmed 234 federal judges for lifetime appointments during Trump’s presidency, including three Supreme Court justices, and these judges have pushed the courts in a conservative direction that will likely endure for some time. Biden and Senate Democrats are looking to match that number before the president leaves office in January, focusing on the confirmation process during the last weeks of the Biden administration. Democrats are close to Trump’s number, having confirmed 221 federal judges so far, but time is running out to hit their goal.
Harris may play a crucial role in confirming the administration’s judicial appointments. NBC News reported that Harris temporarily delayed her post-election vacation to California and Hawaii to remain in Washington in case she was needed to cast a tie-breaking vote on judicial appointments, and she is expected to be in Washington in December to play that role if necessary. As vice president, one of the constitutional powers granted to Harris is the ability to break ties in the Senate, a power she has used more than any vice president in U.S. history due to the closely divided nature of the Senate during the Biden administration.
Overcoming Republican opposition and Trump rage
Republicans do not have the power to block nominations altogether, but they can significantly slow down the process and thus limit the number of judges who come up for a final vote, a tactic that the GOP has been using. However, a number of Republican senators, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, failed to show up during recent votes on at least two Biden nominees, allowing them go through. Trump, despite having Republicans push through a number of his judicial nominees in the final weeks of his previous term, has expressed anger at Senate Republicans for allowing any judicial appointments to go through at the end of Biden’s presidency.
Despite Trump’s call for Republicans to “hold the line” against more confirmations, The Associated Press reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-Calif., struck a deal with Republicans who had been delaying votes on a number of Biden judicial nominees. In exchange for Democrats essentially dropping four nominations for circuit court judges — powerful positions that often have the last word in deciding cases on appeal — Republicans will allow the nominations of at least seven district court judges to proceed after Thanksgiving, with the possibility of an additional six district court judges being considered in December.
As reported, Harris will be on hand in December in case those nominations come down to a tie-breaking vote. Whether Democrats succeed in matching Trump’s judicial appointments number or simply come close to doing so, the renewed effort to appoint federal judges will leave less open slots for Trump to fill and will work to push the courts back to a more liberal position after Trump and Republicans moved them to the right.
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