Democrats are planning an aggressive push to fill as many federal judicial vacancies as possible before Republicans take control of Congress on Jan. 3 and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in Jan. 20, Newsweek reported Tuesday.
The news comes a day after the White House reportedly dismissed demands from Trump to put a stop to judicial confirmations during the lame-duck session of Congress, which began Tuesday.
"While still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must do all we can to safeguard our democracy," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote in a Time magazine editorial published Nov. 7. "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."
Schumer, D-N.Y., filed for cloture to break filibusters to accelerate two of President Joe Biden's judicial nominations, both of whom were nominated for federal trial courts in Illinois, Newsweek reported, citing Law.com. The Senate will likely vote on the nominees next week.
"We are going to get as many done as we can," Schumer said in a statement, according to The New York Times.
Newsweek reported that a spokesperson for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Law.com that Durbin "aims to confirm every possible nominee before the end of this Congress."
A total of 213 federal judges have been appointed under Biden, 21 short of the 234 appointed by Trump in his first term. As of Oct. 10, there were 28 pending nominees: 17 waiting for floor votes, eight waiting to be advanced out of the Judiciary Committee, and three waiting for hearings before the committee, according to the American Constitution Society.
Four federal appeals court nominees are awaiting a vote on the Senate floor, Newsweek reported. In the Judiciary Committee, there is a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit awaiting a vote after a confirmation hearing in July.
"I think there is a sense of urgency now more than ever," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told CNN.