More Biden judges will be confirmed, but four appeals court nominees won't see a vote under Senate deal
Source: CNN Politics
Published 3:04 PM EST, Thu November 21, 202
CNN — Senate leaders have reached a deal that will smooth the path for Democrats to confirm several of President Joe Biden’s district court nominees, averting Republican procedural tactics that significantly slowed down the process, in exchange for ending efforts to confirm four pending appeals court nominees.
Liberal court activists are already bashing the agreement, reached late Wednesday night, for how it will aid President-elect Donald Trump’s ability to pick up on his makeover of federal circuit courts when he returns to the White House. However, the four Biden appellate nominees already faced tough odds of confirmation, with some, like 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Adeel Mangi, facing opposition among Democrats as well.
“The trade was four circuit nominees — all lacking the votes to get confirmed — for more than triple the number of additional judges moving forward,” a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. The deal comes after Trump called for Republicans to do everything they could to stop the Democratic-led Senate from confirming Biden’s remaining judicial nominees before the change of party control in Washington next year.
Even when they haven’t had the numbers to block Biden picks outright, Republicans have employed various floor maneuvers that greatly increased the amount of time the Senate had to spend on each of the pending nominees. Not counting the four Biden picks that, under the Senate’s agreement, will not come up for a vote, there are about 14 judicial nominees – all of them for district courts – in the pipeline, though two of them are still going through the committee process.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/senate-biden-judges-deal/index.html