Senate Republicans — and a prominent GOP governor — decried the absences of some of their colleagues that allowed Democrats to push through more than a dozen of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees, The Hill reported Tuesday.
Amid the uproar, including from President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, rushed back to Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon to help stem the tide.
"The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Even with Vance back, Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Gov.-elect Mike Braun, R-Ind., were also absent, allowing the lifetime appointment of Embry Kidd, for example, to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Cruz and Hagerty were with Trump in Brownsville, Texas, on Tuesday to watch the SpaceX Starship launch, The Hill reported.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said his frustration level was 12 on a scale of 1 to 10.
"Because a number of President Biden's nominees, particularly at the courts of appeal, they think they're qualified to be a federal judge if they've seen 'My Cousin Vinny,' and I don't agree with them."
Kennedy added, "We had some of these judges killed dead as Woodrow Wilson, and our vote wasn't here. We had people not here to vote, and I'm not going to bubblewrap it. There's no excuse for that. Our job is to be here and vote."
Regarding Kidd, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis posted, "This leftist judge would have been voted down and the seat on the important 11th circuit would have been filled by Donald Trump next year had Republicans showed up. Now, the leftist judge will have a lifetime appointment and the people of FL, AL and GA will suffer the consequences."
Although with the 51-49 majority, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will only schedule votes when he knows he has the needed attendance, the Washington Examiner reported.
"If we don't show up, we lose," said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. "I don't care what the reasons were. We have fewer than 15 scheduled legislative days. You have to show up. Period. End of story. There's nothing more important."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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